SAN ANTONIO – The Department of Homeland Security released new details on a raid that led to the arrests of 27 people with suspected ties to a Venezuelan gang.
In a Wednesday night news release, DHS said more than 150 immigrants were detained in a multi-agency operation early Sunday near the intersection of San Pedro Avenue and Basse Road.
The raid was led by the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
According to DHS, ICE — along with other federal and state law enforcement agencies — executed a search warrant at an “after-hours club” frequented by suspected members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a gang based in Venezuela.
Of the more than 150 immigrants detained, federal officials said 27 of them have alleged ties to TdA.
DHS released the identities of five of the 27 alleged gang members who were arrested on Sunday:
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Brayann Ibraynn Morales-Rodriguez
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Yoibert Geraldo Caldera Pulido
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Jeison Javier Perez
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Roiberth Jesus Campos Duran
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Willy Yoel Arteaga-Tabares
In the release, the agency also identified two additional people, Marcelo Gomez-Gonzalez and Yormary Paola Aguilar Fuentes, who were among those detained on Sunday. DHS officials did not connect Gomez-Gonzalez and Fuentes to TdA.
Authorities said they also recovered “cocaine, three firearms and approximately $35,000 in cash” at the scene.
Other arrests at the location included two people accused of human smuggling and money laundering and another person under investigation for cocaine trafficking, DHS said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Department of Justice said two men — who were also arrested in Sunday’s raid — made their first court appearance in a federal courtroom in San Antonio.
The two men — Marcos Contreras-Max and Edwin Javier Chinchilla-Lopez of Honduras — were taken into custody by ICE agents during the operation, records obtained by KSAT on Tuesday showed.
After their arrests, the DOJ said Contreras-Max and Chinchilla-Lopez were transported to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, before they returned for their Wednesday court appearances in San Antonio.
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