El Paso is a headquarters for Tren de Aragua, with many members passing through the border town before heading out for other areas of the country, including New York City and Aurora, Colorado.
Avila, the retired DHS agent, said the gang has “teamed up” with cartels on the Mexican side of the border to conduct smuggling operations.
The latest warning of the gang’s increased violence is linked to anti-American ideology that Avila compared to that of terrorist groups.
“I think that TdA is coming in with an instruction from their home country. And I think that their ideology is more of a terrorist ideology of destruction,” said Avila.
“They hate the United States just like terrorists do and they will kill, destroy, take over businesses, take over stores and take over apartment complexes, do whatever they have to do to destroy our way of life in the US,” he added.
