(NewsNation) — A top Tren de Aragua member was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee, on Nov. 19 according to Interpol.
A statement was issued by Interpol announcing the arrest of Venezuelan Luis Alejandro Ruiz Godoy, who according to the Dec. 3 release, is in ICE custody.
Ruiz Godoy was apprehended on charges including terrorism, weapons offenses, human trafficking, robbery, and escape.
“Tren de Aragua has emerged as a significant threat to the United States as it infiltrates migration flows from Venezuela," Interpol Washington acting director Jeffrey A. Grimming said in the release.
"INTERPOL Washington will continue to provide critical intelligence to our police partners across the continent to strengthen border and national security, ensuring these violent gang members find no safe harbor in our country,” he added.
The Venezuelan gang has spread to 16 U.S. states, according to a New York Post report citing an internal Department of Homeland Security memo.
The gang started in a prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua nearly a decade ago. It’s since expanded into what the Justice Department calls a “transnational criminal organization.”
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the group in July, freezing assets and blocking transactions in the U.S.
Several high-profile cases, including the death of 12-year-old Texas girl Jocelyn Nungaray, have fueled speculation about alleged migrant gang crimes.