Governor Greg Abbott today announced that Texas is launching a comprehensive, statewide operation that will aggressively target the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) to disrupt their criminal operations and deny their foothold in the state during a press conference in Houston. Speaking at the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Southeast Texas Regional Headquarters, the Governor also designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization, directing DPS to elevate them to a Tier 1 gang and to create a TdA Strike Team that will identify and arrest TdA gang members. “The recent entry and expansion of the vicious Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, is a dangerous and deadly problem facing our state and nation,” said Governor Abbott. “Our top focus is the safety and security of all Texans. To address this looming threat, I have ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to launch a statewide operation directly targeting Tren de Aragua to deter and disrupt their criminal operation. I am also officially designating Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. Our goal is to defend Texas from the growing threat of the gang. We will not let them use Texas as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens. They have a target on their back, and we are going after them. Texas is the wrong state for them to try to do business in.”

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