Border Patrol agents in Lordsburg, New Mexico, arrested a previously deported member of a prison gang for an alleged DUI, according to an internal agency memo obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
On Feb. 11, agents arrested Ruben Moreno, who admitted to being a member of the Norteño prison gang and a previously deported Mexican national, according to the memo. Amid record illegal immigration flows into the U.S. in recent years, federal border authorities have nabbed hundreds of gang members, according to federal data. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Feds Nab Afghan Illegal Immigrant On Terror Watchlist)
“During intake it was discovered that MORENO, Ruben had been convicted of 2nd degree burglary for which he had served seven years. Additionally, MORENO, Ruben admitted to joining and being a Norteño gang member during his various periods of incarceration,” the memo read.
Internal Border Patrol alert obtained by the DCNF//Jennie Taer
Between October and January, Border Patrol agents nabbed 157 gang members, of which there were two Norteño members.
Additionally, Border agents arrested 598 gang members, including 3 Norteño members, in fiscal year 2023 and 751, including 2 Norteño members, in fiscal year 2022, according to the data.
Norteños are known to operate in northern California prisons, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Younger members of Latin American gangs are not getting tattoos that show their gang affiliation so they can more easily enter the United States, according to gang experts who previously spoke with the DCNF.
The young generation of the Venezuelan gang Tren De Argua has been trying to enter the U.S. by forgoing tattoos showing their affiliation to skirt border authorities, Kyle Williamson, the director of the West Texas Anti-Gang Center located in El Paso, Texas, previously told the DCNF.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) didn’t immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
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