Sweetwater police arrest man allegedly tied to Venezuelan gang
SWEETWATER - Police have arrested a man after he allegedly stole more than $1,1000 worth of Nike merchandise from the Dolphin Mall and battery after an officer was shoved while running away from them.
But it was a tattoo on the arm of Abrahan Dejesus Mavo-Bracho that stood out to them and he is now facing more than those charges.
"The tattoo is known as one of the identifiers to the known Venezuelan gang Tren de Araqua," Alvaro Zabaleta, of Sweetwater Police said.
Police say Mavo-Bracho has denied any affiliation with the gang. But police say federal agents didn't buy that.
"People don't get these tattoos just because they look nice. Because nobody wants to be affiliated with them. And nobody wants to put that on them where they can be mistakenly identified as being affiliated with them," Zabaleta said.
Police told CBS Miami that Mavo-Bracho had entered the country illegally, was caught by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and was then sent him to Chicago with a metal ankle monitor. He was supposed to have a hearing next year but police say he took the monitor off and fled to south Florida. They aren't sure why he came down here.
"We were able to take what we now consider a dangerous person and a fugitive of course to the federal authorities for cutting his anklet off," Zabaleta said.
As for the gang, the White House declared Tren de Aragua a transnational criminal organization in July.
They began as a prison gang in Venezuela, according to the U.S. State Department.
Over the past six years, the gang has expanded throughout South America and recently into Central America and the United States, according to the State Department.
Police in Illinois Texas and New York have arrested alleged gang members. Recently New York Police Department detectives cracked down on more than 40 alleged members trying to recruit children.
"We have no fingerprints on file for them, photographs, prior criminal history on them," Joseph Kennedy of NYPD said.
Police say Mavo-Bracho will remain in custody due to an immigration hold.
CBS News Miami reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about what's next, but have not heard back.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement