Accused cop-shooting NYC migrant is suspected member of bloodthirsty Tren de Aragua gang: sources
NY Post
The migrant accused of shooting two NYPD cops is suspected of being a member of the infamous, bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, law enforcement sources told The Post on Tuesday.
Suspect Bernardo Castro Mata, 19 — who illegally entered the US last year, then had his asylum case dismissed as part of a Biden administration “mass amnesty’’ program — is believed to have been lured into the powerful criminal syndicate’s clutches after his arrival in the country, sources said.
Mata, of Venezuela, was living in a hotel-turned-city migrant shelter in Queens before the cops’ shooting in the borough Monday — and authorities are concerned that such sites are becoming breeding grounds for gang culture, sources said.
Investigators suspect Mata is a member of the gang because of a tattoo he has of a clock attached to an anchor — a favored Tren de Aragua ink — and some social media postings, sources said.
A source said migrant shelters are ripe for gang culture because of the money that’s offered for the crimes and the sense of belonging in strange and sometimes violent new surroundings.
The gang — infamous for its cruelty, including for how easily it kills women — has been having members pose as asylum-seeking migrants to infiltrate the US southern border, sources have said.
