FBI reveals task force as over 140 people taken into ICE custody in San Antonio

Several law enforcement agencies detained more than 140 individuals, who were taken into ICE custody, overnight on Sunday, November 16, in San Antonio. The individuals were from Venezuela, Honduras, Mexico and other South American countries, FBI San Antonio confirmed in a news release on Monday, November 17.

FBI San Antonio said agencies were “disrupting Tren de Aragua criminal presence” around 2 a.m. Sunday, along the intersection of San Pedro Avenue and Basse Road in San Antonio. Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan gang that started in a prison in the state of Aragua and has since expanded into Central America and the United States, including Texas, New York, Colorado and Wisconsin, according to the Texas Tribune. Federal agencies did not immediately release details on how the individuals are linked to the gang.

Following the arrests, FBI San Antonio and Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Field Office (HSI) announced the establishment of a regional Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF-South Texas). The task force aims to combat transnational criminal organizations engaged in sophisticated criminal schemes, involving federal violations, both within the United States and beyond its borders, according to the release.

In addition to the recent operation in San Antonio, HSTF-South Texas was involved with uncovering a superseding indictment for money laundering charges against a father and son who were allegedly providing material support to a Mexican cartel that had been named as a foreign terrorist organization. The task force also intercepted 534 firearms, as well as 31,482 rounds of ammunition, 525 magazines, 40 scopes, four lasers, 10 rifle slings and other related items from the Laredo area before they were to be trafficked into Mexico, according to FBI San Antonio.

The task force is comprised of FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the
U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District and Western District of Texas, the Internal Revenue Service, United States Coast Guard, Texas Department of Public Safety, and the South Texas – High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

Governor Greg Abbott posted on X about the operation. He wrote in the post, “Texas Department of Public Safety joined with federal and local officials to raid a TDA sex and human trafficking operation in San Antonio. About 200 illegal immigrants were apprehended. More of this to come.”

The Party for Socialism and Liberation San Antonio (PSL San Antonio) is hosting a protest at 5:30 p.m. in the location where the federal operation took place, along San Pedro and Basse Road on Monday, November 17. PSL San Antonio claimed the task force terrorized local food vendors by pointing rifles in their faces, while throwing smoke bombs into the street. 

The organization is asking for the community to “rise up” and take the streets to make it clear: ” NO MORE RACIST RAIDS! ICE IS NOT WELCOME HERE!”

Nationally, protests continue to erupt as masked federal agents raid cities across the country including Portland, Chicago and now Charlotte in North Carolina where more than 81 arrests have been reported by Border Patrol according to multiple reports. 

Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan gang that started in a prison in the state of Aragua and has since expanded into Central America and the United States, including Texas, New York, Colorado and Wisconsin, according to the Texas Tribune. The group focuses on human smuggling and other criminal activity that targets migrants, such as kidnapping, extortion, and drug trafficking, the news organization reported.

In October 2024, a weeks-long joint operation netted 20 arrests from a San Antonio apartment complex, including four confirmed Tren de Aragua gang members. At the time, San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus said one of those individuals was “an enforcer” in the gang. 

McManus said the agency had received multiple complaints from the apartment complex about narcotics, human trafficking and threats made to apartment employees. Police said the arrests were for confirmed warrants or were under an order for removal from Homeland Security Investigations. 

In September 2024, the Texas Department of Public Safety arrested two members of the Tren de Aragua gang in San Antonio. Officials said the alleged gang members were arrested during a traffic stop. 

Gov. Greg Abbott signed a proclamation last September that declared the gang a foreign terrorist organization. He also directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to mobilize a strike team with state troopers, Texas Rangers, and other law enforcement groups to pursue the gang, the Texas Tribune reported.