Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua take over Texas hotel, county officials work to shut down business

A hotel in Texas may be shut down by local officials after years of illegal activity from possible Tren de Aragua gang members occurred on the property.

Jasmine is a writer at Fox News Digital and a military spouse based in New Orleans. Stories can be sent to jasmine.baehr@fox.com

The Gateway Hotel had been allowed only conditional use of the property through 2018, which included only the lobby and first floor. The past six years of operations have occurred without a valid certificate of occupancy and in direct violation of El Paso city requirements.A one-star review of the Gateway Hotel posted on Yelp reads, "an incredibly filthy, drug, and bug infested, fire-trap!"The hotel, built in 1903, has failed at least three fire inspections since July. An aggravated assault which took place at the Gateway on June 16, 2024, shows "the deplorable state of the inside of the building," according to the El Paso County Attorney's Office."A video showing the deplorable state of the inside of the building and the type of activity allowed inside of the business comes from an aggravated assault case. The video shows dozens of people ‘partying’ on the 3rd floor of the hotel, drinking, smoking and dancing provocatively while children are present," reads the complaint. "The video also shows at least one gun being shot, another used to threaten, men holding knives and another man with a hatchet assaulting people and causing damage to the hotel in front of a security guard."The Tren de Aragua criminal activity at the Gateway Hotel in El Paso follows a dangerous trend of building takeovers across Colorado. 

Tren de Aragua is a transnational gang based in Venezuela with around 5,000 members. The gang has been known to engage in illegal drug dealing, sex trafficking, and carrying unauthorized firearms. Some of the gang members in the United States are illegal aliens."I am thankful to our law enforcement for overseeing this successful operation. Every day, Tren de Aragua gains more ground in our country, and El Paso is clearly on the market for this dangerous gang," said Congressman Tony Gonzales to Fox News Digital. "That’s why I have pushed hard to designate TDA as a transnational criminal organization and provide more tools to security agencies so they can shut down their operations. El Paso has historically been one of our nation’s safest cities and I am committed to keeping it that way."