U.S. Customs and Border Protection this week arrested a member of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Sault Ste. Marie as he tried to cross into the U.S. from Canada.

“Violent criminal organizations and transnational gangs like Tren de Aragua are a plague upon our communities that rely on fear and violence to reign terror on hardworking and law-abiding residents,” Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Travis Pickard said in a statement cited by MLive.

“By coming together as a law enforcement community to successfully locate and arrest these fugitives across state lines, we have sent a resounding message that we are united in our efforts to dismantle these violent criminal networks and put an end to the lawlessness they spread.”

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The suspect, who was not identified by name, is among hundreds of illegal immigrant gang members who have been arrested by CBP officials since Oct. 1.

Agents were looking for the suspect, who was caught attempting to retrieve a vehicle that was previously seized by CBP. The suspect is now with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, WOOD reports.

“So far in (fiscal year 2025), U.S. Border Patrol has apprehended 174 illegal aliens with gang affiliations,” CBP’s Detroit Sector posted to Facebook on Tuesday. “Our agents remain relentless in keeping dangerous criminals out of our communities.”

In just the three weeks since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, 194 members of Tren de Aragua have been removed from communities across America.

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“President Donald Trump told the American people he’d arrest and deport members of the brutal Tren de Aragua gang, and he’s doing just that,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement cited by TNND. “Illegal immigrant criminal gangs like Tren de Aragua will no longer be able to terrorize American communities under President Trump’s leadership.”

All of the gang members will be deported to Venezuela, which has agreed to accept repatriation flights from the U.S., she said.

Tren de Aragua, considered a “Tier 1 threat” alongside the Salvadorean gang MS-13, has a confirmed presence in 16 states, though Michigan is not one of them, NewsNation reports.

Wes Tabor, former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in Venezuela, told The Associated Press in September Tren de Aragua is especially dangerous for multiple reasons.

“What sets this group apart is the level of violence,” Tabor said. “They’re aggressive, they’re hungry and they don’t know any boundaries because they’ve been allowed to spread their wings without any confrontation from law enforcement until now.”

Tren de Aragua is best known for human smuggling, drug trafficking and extortion. In December, ICE detained 16 members of the gang who stormed an apartment in Aurora, Colorado, kidnapped residents, and tortured them at another unit in the complex, The Washington Free Beacon reports.

The gang members are among more than 7,000 illegal immigrant criminals apprehended by ICE since Trump took office on Jan. 20.

Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the U.S. will house some deported migrants at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, based on concerns about the inability of their home countries to detain them.

“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them, because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re gonna send them out to Guantanamo,” Trump said, noting the facility has a capacity for about 30,000. “This will double our capacity immediately, right? And tough. That’s a tough, that’s a tough place to get out of.”