Police in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, arrested a 26-year-old Venezuelan national, Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, on Thursday for allegedly assaulting a woman and a child. Zarate is also believed to have ties to the Venezuelan international gang Tren de Aragua, as reported by ABC News 19.
Following his arrest, Zarate was taken to the Crawford County Jail. The arrest came after officers responded to reports of a disturbance in the 300 block of East Wells Street, where they found a woman and a young girl who had allegedly been attacked by Zarate.
Zarate faces multiple charges, including domestic disorderly conduct, battery, strangulation, physical abuse of a child, and second-degree sexual assault. Prairie du Chien Police Chief Kyle Teynor indicated that Zarate was familiar with the victims, suggesting the attack was not random, according to a report by WMTV in Madison.
Since Zarate is not a U.S. citizen and may be in the country illegally, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been notified of his arrest. The gang he is suspected of being affiliated with, Tren de Aragua, has expanded its presence across the United States amid an increase in illegal immigration through the southern border with Mexico. The gang is involved in various criminal activities, including murder, extortion, kidnapping, and the trafficking of drugs, weapons, and people.
Tren de Aragua has reportedly taken over entire apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado, and is also operating in New York City, where there are concerns it could form alliances with MS-13, a gang with roots in El Salvador.
This incident comes amid a series of crimes involving illegal immigrants that have drawn national attention. In Alabama, an illegal immigrant was arrested after assuming a false identity as a U.S. citizen and voting in multiple elections. In another case, Fairfax County police apprehended an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, previously deported, after discovering abused children shackled to a bed in their mother’s apartment.
