Federal immigration officials have confirmed that at least two of the migrants charged in the mob attack on two NYPD cops in Times Square are members of the notorious Venezuelan street gang “Tren de Aragua.”
Wilson Juarez, 21, and Kelvin Servita-Arocha, 19, who are charged in the Jan. 27 attack, are being held without bail by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials as reputed members of the bloodthirsty gang.
Juarez and Arocha were apprehended by immigration agents inside a Bronx apartment after cops executed an arrest warrant for another asylum seeker wanted in the Times Square attack.
The revelation comes as a second migrant linked to the attack became just the second to be ordered held without bail in the Big Apple, while another was hit with a $100,000 cash bail.
Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19, who was initially released without bail after the Jan. 27 beatdown of two NYPD cops, was shipped off to Rikers Island on Wednesday night after getting busted again for allegedly shoplifting at a Queens Macy’s department store.
The decision to jail Gomez-Izquiel came hours before 21-year-old Ulises Bohorquez became the eighth migrant arraigned in the assault and was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail or a $250,000 bond.
A contingent of NYPD cops was present for the proceedings and expressed their concern for the lack of respect for the law shown by the migrant suspects.
Police have identified at least one other migrant who remains on the loose in the incident and another as a person of interest, with as many as 14 suspects believed to have taken part in the beatdown of an NYPD lieutenant and a police officer after they tried to break up an unruly crowd.
So far eight migrants have been charged with assault on a police officer and obstructing government administration in the Jan. 27 attack. The first five suspects were initially released without bail by Manhattan prosecutors pending further investigation, including a closer review of video footage of the assault.
The NYPD recently issued warnings about the South American gang infiltrating the five boroughs after members have sneaked into the country requesting asylum — only to set up shop in the city.
National Guard troops, who patrol migrant shelters in the Empire State, have been urged to keep an eye out for distinctive Tren de Aragua tattoos on incoming asylum seekers.
The motive behind the attack and the subsequent arrests of the migrants has raised concerns about the influx of gang members entering the country and the potential dangers they may pose to communities across the United States.