Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that Operation Lone Star will specifically target Tren de Aragua (TdA) in an attempt to limit their operations in Texas, according to a press release from Abbott’s office.

TdA began as a prison gang in Venezuela, according to the Daily Mail, but it has become a transcontinental criminal organization. The gang profited originally off Venezuelans attempting to leave their home country under the dictator Nicolás Maduro. 

"If [Tren de Aragua] is unchecked, it will just expand terror and carnage that TdA imposes in whatever country they've been in,"  Abbott told Fox News. "That's why Texas stepped up to be the first state in the United States to say that Tren de Aragua is not going to be not only unwelcome here, but we will be seeking them, we will find them, and we will put them behind bars." 

Almost 8 million Venezuelan natives have left their country since 2014. Most went to other South American countries, but now Venezuelans are entering the U.S., including TdA. The gang has also moved its official headquarters to Juarez, Mexico, on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Similar to TdA’s actions in Aurora, Colorado, the gang has taken over apartment complexes in San Antonio, Texas, according to the Daily Mail. Police raided the Palatia apartment complex and arrested four gang members and nineteen individuals total. The gang had been there for up to six months, using the apartment for human trafficking. There are three other apartments which remain unnamed on account of ongoing investigations.

"Before all we would talk about was MS-13,” Lt. Christopher Olivarez, spokesperson with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said. “This gang, Tren de Aragua, has grown so much, even more so than MS-13." Major Charles Gamero, El Paso task force commander, said the decision to target TdA is not just important for Texas, "but for the United States as a whole."