Mike Coffman, the mayor of Aurora, Colorado, has spoken out after video footage was published online allegedly showing Venezuelan gangs taking control of various apartment complexes across the city.
Coffman told Fox News affiliate KDVR in an interview on Aug. 29 that approximately three apartment buildings in the Denver suburb have fallen victim to the gangs.
He said he believes the gang members allegedly taking over the apartment buildings are Venezuelan, noting that the buildings are also home to a high “concentration” of Venezuelan illegal immigrants.
The mayor did not specify exactly which criminal organizations were allegedly taking over the buildings.
“So there are several buildings actually under the same ownership, out of state ownership, that have fallen to these Venezuelan gangs,” the mayor said.
The buildings are run down and have high vacancy rates and relatively low rents, he said.
Coffman noted the city has set up a task force of local, state, and federal law enforcement officials to help deal with the “intimidation” that is happening at the apartment buildings toward individuals who own properties.
The mayor said he’s also investigating how and why there is such a high concentration of Venezuelans in the three buildings.
“Somebody placed them there, is it an agency of the federal government, perhaps using some of our local nonprofit partners here as a conduit?” he said.
He later took aim at the federal government.
“It is my understanding that Venezuela does not share criminal histories with the United States, so it’s very difficult to vet them at the border, yet they’ve been allowed to come in anyway,” Coffman said.
The mayor added that the city of Aurora “took a position early on” that it was “not going to participate in the migrant crisis” and was “not going to provide taxpayer support.”
Government to Blame, Aurora Mayor Says
“This is not our problem, this is a problem created by the federal government at the border with bad policy, and so it’s the federal government that needs to solve this problem, not the city of Aurora,” he said.
The Epoch Times contacted the White House for comment but didn’t receive a reply by publication time.
Coffman made the comments after video footage emerged online showing a group of heavily armed men—three of whom appeared to be carrying handguns and one with a rifle—entering an apartment complex in Aurora before stepping inside a unit in the building.
A separate clip, seemingly taken at a different time, shows two men using what appears to be a large metal object to smash open the door of a unit inside an apartment complex.
The video footage was obtained by KDVR, which reported that the incident took place at The Edge at Lowry apartment complex in Aurora.
Aurora has seen a rise in crimes that officials attribute to the transnational criminal gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the gang, which originates in the Aragua region of Venezuela, engaged in criminal activities such as human smuggling and trafficking, money laundering, and illicit drug trafficking.
The department says the gang is rapidly expanding its presence throughout the Western Hemisphere.
In a statement on social media platform X on Aug. 28, the Aurora Police Department (APD) said it has established a task force to “specifically address concerns” about TdA and “other criminal activity affecting migrant communities.”
The task force is in partnership with local, state, and federal partners, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the department said.
“We are aware that components of TdA are operating in Aurora. APD has been increasingly collecting evidence to show the gang is connected to crimes in the area,” police said. “However, as we have said previously and as the DEA similarly stated, it would be improper at this time for the city and APD to make any conclusory statements about specific incidents or provide details about law enforcement strategy and operations.”
The Aurora Police Department did not specifically comment on the incidents involving the alleged takeover of various buildings.
“Based on our initial investigative work, we believe reports of TdA influence in Aurora are isolated,” the department said.
From The Epoch Times