(COLORADO SPRINGS) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Denver arrested an alleged Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang member with the assistance of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO).
On Wednesday, March 5, ICE arrested 30-year-old Pedro Rafael Cartaya-Rojas in Colorado Springs.
According to ICE, Cartaya-Rojas is a Venezuelan national who illegally entered the U.S. in November 2023 and is also a TdA gang member.
According to Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (DEA RMFD), TdA began as a Venezuelan prison gang and has since spread all across South America and in other countries. “Here in the Denver area, they are involved in drug trafficking at large levels, weapons trafficking—you saw the videos from the apartment complex in Aurora—prostitution, [and] human trafficking,” Pullen previously said.
According to ICE, Cartaya-Rojas escaped from the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, which allows immigrants to remain in their communities as they move through immigration proceedings or prepare for departure. In May 2024, an immigration judge ordered him removed.
“I will be transparent with the citizens I serve, and the truth is, dangerous illegal immigrant criminals, such as Tren de Aragua gang members, are here in the Pikes Peak region,” EPSO Sheriff Joseph Roybal had previously said. “My Office is already collaborating with our federal partners at the FBI, DEA, ATF, and ICE to ensure dangerous criminals, regardless of their citizenship status, are removed from the streets and held accountable.”
