1st Chattanooga Arrest Made Of A Venezuelan Gang Member

Authorities said Monday that the first arrest was made in Chattanooga last week of a member of the violent Venzuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The gang member arrested was Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona, 30. He was passing through the area and not embedded in the community, officials said.

TBI officials said, "Investigative efforts confirmed Rodriguez-Carmona to be a known member of Tren de Aragua who is additionally suspected of committing violent crimes in Chicago and New York City."

He is in the custody of the Hamilton County Jail on $125,000 bond, charged with one count of patronizing prostitution, one count of possession of marijuana for resale, one count of possession of Xanax for resale, one count of possession of crack cocaine for resale, and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon.

TBI Director David Rausch, who was in Chattanooga conducting media interviews with Sheriff Austin Garrett and Chattanooga Police Chief John Chambers, said Rodriguez-Carmona was arrested at a local hotel along with three women working as prostitutes.

The women arrested were Wilimar Herrera Guedez, 29, charged with one count of prostitution, Rebeca De Los Juarez Lucena, 26, charged with one count of prostitution, and Yidalbris Marcano Salas, 29, charged with one count of prostitution, one count of possession of marijuana for resale, one count of possession of Xanax for resale, one count of possession of crack cocaine for resale, and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon.

Director Rausch said the operation was conducted in Georgia before moving on to Chattanooga.

All three officials said they want to get out the message that law enforcement is determined not to allow Tren de Aragua to get a toehold in Tennessee.

Director Rausch said Tren de Aragua, known for its violence - especially against police, only recently surfaced in the last couple of years.

He said at a recent conference, the FBI director "said he had not heard of Tren de Aragua a year ago, but now it's all he hears about."

Director Rausch said some Tren de Aragua members were arrested in Middle Tennessee two years ago. He said there were arrests recently in Memphis.

He said the gang thus far has not been nearly so visible as in Colorado, where they are seen on video taking over an apartment complex, and in New York City, where another video shows them in a gun battle with officers.

The TBI director said the origin of the gang is from the prison system in Venzuela. He said the gang took over the prison and began running it. Finally, he said the government there retook the prison operation.

He said many of those who had been running the prison fled and came into the U.S. through the "porous border." He said the federal government and the state and local law enforcement jurisdictions are now dealing with the fact that the gang members were able to walk in.

Concerning the recent arrest in Chattanooga of the three woman, he said "they are victims as well," but he said they live in great fear of their captors. He said many women are kidnapped off the street in Venzuela and wind up working as prostitutes in the U.S.