Federal immigration agents in New York City arrested a suspected Venezuelan gang member Tuesday who police say appeared in the video that went viral last summer showing a group of heavily armed men entering an Aurora apartment.
Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, was identified by Aurora police in September as one of six suspected Tren de Aragua gang members wanted for burglary, felony menacing and extortion in connection with the video.
While two of the six were taken into custody that month, arrest warrants were issued for the four others, including Zambrano-Pacheco. The video showed the six men knocking on the door of an apartment about 10 minutes before a fatal shooting in the 1200 block of Dallas Street, Aurora police said.
On Tuesday, Aurora police spokesman Joe Moylan confirmed Zambrano-Pacheco was arrested in New York on that Aurora arrest warrant.
“The Aurora Police Department values its positive working relationships with law enforcement at the local, state and federal level,” Aurora police Chief Todd Chamberlain said in a statement. “This collaboration resulted in the apprehension of a violent criminal, and we are thankful he can no longer victimize members of our community here in Aurora, as well as residents of New York City.”
The arrest of Zambrano-Pacheco in the Bronx also was announced by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as she joined federal agents in New York City to discuss Tuesday’s operation to detain immigrants wanted on criminal charges.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said Tuesday’s arrests did not appear to be part of a “wholesale raid,” but rather an operation targeting specific people accused of crimes.
“I want to be clear, there’s always been ICE raids in the state of New York, even in the past. This is not a new dynamic,” she said.
Zambrano-Pacheco has not been confirmed by the Aurora Police Department as a Tren de Aragua gang member. He was wanted on a warrant for first-degree burglary and menacing with a firearm, both felonies.
Two other men from the viral video, who were confirmed as members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua prison gang by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials, were arrested in New York last November.
ICE officials said 23-year-old Denyeer Aramillo-Meneses and 25-year-old Edilson Pena-Angulo were both Venezuelan citizens living in the U.S. illegally. They were arrested in late November after a Homeland Security gang task force executed a search warrant in New York City.
In the Bronx on Tuesday, no one answered the door at apartment 1A by the entrance to the building where Zambrano-Pacheco was detained. But Richard Egu, 50, who lives in a third-floor unit, said he was roused from sleep by the commotion around 5 a.m.
Egu, a correctional officer who is originally from Nigeria and has been a naturalized citizen for more than 15 years, said he didn’t venture out to investigate and did not know the man who was arrested.
He said he understood the need to arrest and deport those in the country illegally who commit crimes, but he also worries about the effect such enforcement will have in the community.
“You need to give immigrants a chance. These people are already here,” he said. “Figure out the ones who are committing the crimes. Don’t just judge all immigrants as criminals.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
