Suspected Tren de Aragua member among 5 arrested in Bexar Co. human trafficking bust

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Alexis Segundo Olivio Fernandez (Source: Bexar County Sheriff's Office)

BEXAR COUNTY, Texas - A suspected member of Tren de Aragua was among five people arrested in a Bexar County human smuggling bust this week.

Bexar County Human Smuggling Bust

What we know:

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar held a news conference on Wednesday announcing the arrests.

Sheriff Salazar said that the suspects went around Border Patrol checkpoints to bring five to 15 people per week in the United States.

Three suspects were charged with human smuggling: 24-year-old Jose Francisco Barriento Vega of Mexico, 49-year-old Mary Lou Tula and 44-year-old Alexis Segundo Olivo Fernandez of Venezuela. Two others, Brandon German Suarez and Bryan Jordan Suarez, were arrested for drug possession as well.

Fernandez is believed to be a member of Tren de Aragua, according to investigators.

A sixth suspect, also believed to have ties to Tren de Aragua, was not arrested at the time of the news conference. The sheriff said Border Patrol was in the process of taking him in. 

Salazar says the investigation dates back to April. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office worked with Laredo Border Patrol agents to investigate the human smuggling group. 

What we don't know:

Sheriff Salazar says it is possible that more people could be arrested in connection with the case.

Tren de Aragua

Dig deeper:

Tren de Aragua, known as TdA, originated in an infamously lawless prison in the central state of Aragua and accompanied an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation’s economy came undone last decade. 

Tren de Aragua is Spanish for "the train of Aragua." The group may have gotten its name from a union of railroad workers, NPR reported.

By 2017, Tren de Aragua began to be known as a "megabanda," a category the local press in Venezuela use to refer to large organized criminal groups.

Tren de Aragua’s growth surged as a result of mass incarceration policies that began under Venezuela’s former President Hugo Chávez and expanded under current President Nicolás Maduro. 

The men began to organize into prison gangs with clear hierarchies. They accumulated vast profits by charging prisoners fees for food, use of space and protection from inmate violence. They also opened and ran businesses, including a club, inside Tocorón prison.

Members of different gangs in and outside the prison also began to communicate and share information about criminal activities such as kidnapping and extortion. This strengthened social networks and expanded their illegal enterprises.

Tren de Aragua eventually took control of Tocorón prison as the government became unable to manage daily life inside its walls. It had become one of the largest and best organized gangs in Venezuela.

Trump seized on the gang during his campaign to paint misleading pictures of communities that he contended were "taken over" by what were actually a handful of lawbreakers.