The police in Aurora, Colorado have charged three suspects from a viral video that showed heavily armed men breaking into an apartment, sparking concerns about the spread of migrant crime in the Denver suburb. One of the suspects, Niefred Serpa-Acosta, has confessed to being a member of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, according to federal law enforcement sources. Despite local police initially denying any connection to the gang, Serpa-Acosta’s admission and his Tren de Aragua tattoos suggest otherwise. The suspects, including Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco and Naudi Lopez Fernandez, have extensive rap sheets in Colorado, with involvement in a shooting that left one person dead.
Serpa-Acosta, who has been arrested multiple times in Colorado in the past two years, crossed the border into the US illegally in December 2022 and had voluntarily left before reentering. He is currently in ICE custody and is due to appear before an immigration judge. The other suspects, Zambrano-Pacheco and Lopez Fernandez, also crossed the border illegally last year and have faced multiple arrests in Colorado, although there is no confirmed evidence linking them to the gang Tren de Aragua. Three other individuals seen in the viral video have not yet been identified and are believed to be at large.
Aurora police have been unable to confirm ties between the suspects and any gangs, including Tren de Aragua, stating the difficulty in distinguishing gang members from non-affiliated individuals. Chief Todd Chamberlain emphasized the challenges in identifying gang members from countries without shared databases with the United States, such as Venezuela. The city of Aurora has seen an influx of migrants, particularly from Venezuela, with gang members among them. A task force has been established to address the growing presence of Tren de Aragua in the area.
Former ICE director John Fabbricatore pointed to sanctuary laws in Colorado limiting local law enforcement’s communication with ICE as contributing to the rise of Tren de Aragua in Aurora. These laws, aimed at protecting undocumented immigrants, may hinder the sharing of important intelligence and information between agencies. Fabbricatore, who is running for Congress in Colorado, warned that sanctuary jurisdictions offer a sense of impunity to gangs like Tren de Aragua, allowing them to thrive in states like Colorado. Both the Aurora Police Department and ICE have not responded to requests for comment on the situation.
