Henchmen for Venezuela’s dictator and many of the South American country’s worst criminals have crossed over the US border and are now causing chaos in major American cities, including Dallas, Miami and Chicago, Daily Mail reported.
In Dallas, the Venezuelan neighborhood known as ‘Villa Dallas’ has descended into mayhem. For months, once peaceful apartment complexes have been the scene of illegal street races, beatings, shootings and extortion attempts.
Residents, overwhelmingly migrants who recently made the harrowing trek through several countries to reach America and are seeking asylum, pointed to videos of fights between armed men, broken windows and reckless drivers speeding through parking lots.
One disturbing clip shows a man with a shirt over his head wailed on by several men. The man appears to be unconscious until he moves his arm and is then kicked in the head.
Meanwhile, a car’s tires can be heard screeching in the background as shots are fired into the air.
‘Don’t kill him,’ says a by stander.
The person who posted the video to Instagram identified local gangsters who he says are behind the bedlam.
‘The most popular nicknames are Aron, El Pibe and Chito– three alleged mini criminal gang leaders who face each other to keep control of the area,’ @elperijanero2020 claims.
But there’s nothing ‘mini’ about these criminals, explained immigration attorney Rolando Vazquez.
‘A lot of these people are criminals from the (Nicholas) Maduro regime,’ the Miami lawyer stated.
‘Some are ex-security forces. They are professional criminals or part of criminal organizations.’
At least 334,914 Venezuelan citizens have crossed into the US in fiscal year 2023, according to US Customs and Border Protection statistics.
In the month of September alone, 72,352 Venezuelans were encountered at US international crossings– making citizens from the South American country the largest nationality arrested for illegally entering the US. For the first time ever, Mexicans citizens were replaced as the top nationality along the border.
Venezuelan migrants across the country are being extorted by criminal Venezuelan migrants, Vazquez elaborated.
Business owners perceived as having deep pockets are often followed home and threatened with violence against their families if they don’t pay up.
‘They want to do the same thing here that they used to do in Venezuela,’ he said.
Orlando José aka ‘Chucky’ Dominguez Mora was convicted of extortion in Miami in September 2022, according to Florida court records.
A victim claimed she was one of several business owners in Doral, the Venezuelan community in South Florida, who paid Chucky after receiving threats from him, reported ABC Noticias.
Victims were selected at high-end restaurants and nightclubs, where Chucky would pick a family and follow them to their homes to gather information that could be later used to blackmail them.
Some South American thugs are members of so called ‘Collectivos’ or Venezuelan state-run militia, Vazquez says. The government-backed gangs run Venezuelan towns, demanding bribes, taking personal items from homes simply because they want to, and killing or attacking citizens at the request of Maduro, who was indicted by the US government in 2020 for narco-terrorism and drug-trafficking charges.
‘The same people so many migrants left Venezuela to escape from are now here,’ Vazquez added.
‘They’re the ones who attacked people for their political beliefs, and they are now in the US. They’re doing Maduro’s dirty work, and it’s not just Dallas. It’s Miami; it’s Chicago.’
Villa Dallas residents who report criminals to authorities have their car tires slashed and windows broken, multiple residents told DailyMail.com.
‘Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the situation is out of control,’ said a renter at the Oaks at North Dallas who didn’t want to be identified.
‘These men hang around the complex drinking and doing drugs. Next thing you know, it’s bullets flying and people fighting. When I first arrived, it was calm, but things have changed in the last few months.’
In July, the Dallas Police designated The Oaks as a habitual crime property and confirmed officers have increased their presence there.
‘Our Neighborhood Police Officers are setting up a crime watch meeting to speak with tenants and address the crime in the area,’ the department said in a statement.
Law-abiding migrants who have the money to move out have already left, and those who don’t try to keep their heads down and hope they don’t get hit by a stray bullet or sucked into the violence.
‘I work long hours, so I’m hardly ever here, but I’m still afraid for my son,’ another resident added. ‘They like to races here, in the parking lot of the apartment complex. You hear them going around and around and you worry someone might get run over.’
Members of the notorious Tren de Aragua Venezuelan mob have also infiltrated the US. The leader of the gang– headquartered inside Tocorón prison and known for trafficking drugs and women– recently had broke out of the prison and is currently on the run.
Interpol issued a red alert for mob boss Héctor “El Niño” Guerrero and warned he could be headed to the US, according to multiple South American media organizations.
‘If Maduro wants something done in the US, he can use the escaped convicts. They take orders from inside the US,’ Vazquez said.
Despite the international manhunt for Guerrero, the fugitive could still make it past border security since he would likely be smuggled into the country, Mexican cartel expert Robert Almonte told the DailyMail.com.
‘The Mexican cartels, they know who’s crossing the border; they’re making money off it,’ he stated.
‘These are thugs, these are criminals. Most are not presenting paperwork to show Border Patrol.’
Once they’re smuggled in, there’s no way to track where the end up in the United States.
At least two of gang members are able to get into the country legally by presenting fake documents at the border and asking for asylum.
Two members of Tren de Aragua were able to get legitimate Venezuelan passports with fake names before making the journey to the US and pass themselves off as refugees, reported The American.
They ended up in Orlando, Florida where one was able to obtain a driver’s license and even register a car.
Every migrant who presents themselves at the border or who is captured trying to sneak into the country undergoes a biometric, including fingerprint, background check, a Border Patrol agent speaking on condition of anonymity told DailyMail.com.
Only those who have previously been fingerprinted or have outstanding criminal warrant would be flagged in the system.
“We know people like that are coming in, but without a fingerprint being flagged or other criminal flag, we just have to take their word for it if they mix in with the refugees,” the agent said.
