(DENVER) — Two federal law enforcement sources briefed on Wednesday morning’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-led raids in seven locations across Denver tell ABC News that the operation yielded the arrest of just one alleged gang member. Twenty-nine people were also detained, sources told ABC News.
ICE previously said on Wednesday that “100+ members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were targeted for arrest and detention” in raids that day. However, the operation ultimately produced far fewer than that number.
The arrest and detentions are separate from a DEA operation ABC News also observed in Denver that day while accompanying ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents. The DEA operation resulted in at least two-drug related arrests that were not related to immigration status, sources told ABC News.
ABC News interviewed and obtained Ring doorbell footage from one person that revealed agents on Wednesday going door-to-door asking residents at one apartment complex for identification, travel documents, and permission to enter the units to look around. In many cases, agents did not present a warrant or explain why they were there, according to ABC News interviews with residents and examination of obtained footage.
A DEA official on scene told ABC News that they executed two targeted drug trafficking warrants at the apartment complex at the same time as the ICE raid.
After the operation, Tim Lenzen, the acting special agent in charge of HSI’s Denver office, told reporters that they did not have the total numbers of detainments or how many of those were for alleged immigration-related offenses, though he did say that one arrest was a fugitive from Chile and “a known [Tren de Aragua] member.” Lenzen said that member was wanted for kidnapping and extortion in another country.
President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said Wednesday on Fox News that the ICE “operation was leaked,” which compromised its effectiveness.
“This is not a game,” Homan said, adding that “people who want to game this … need to stop or we’ll prosecute them through the Department of Justice.”
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