After two Tennessee law enforcement agencies that serve Knoxville contradicted the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI), which last week warned the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is present in all major Tennessee cities, the agency pointed The Tennessee Star to a media advisory explaining local law enforcement may not be aware of the gang’s human trafficking operations.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office stated last Saturday that Tren de Aragua members are the subjects of any investigations, and no associates of the gang are in its correctional facilities. Two days later, the Knoxville Police Department Chief Paul Noel said the department is aware of the gang, but is “not aware of any active members of Tren de Aragua in Knoxville.”
When asked about what information is shared with local law enforcement agencies, a TBI spokesman referred The Star to a November 15 media advisory delivered by TBI Director David Rausch.
“We at the TBI are the lead agency on human trafficking in the state of Tennessee, and so many of our operations are engaged with these types of individuals,” said Rausch in that video. “These are things that our local agencies may not get engaged in, they may not have an understanding as much as we do because of our operations.”
He also confirmed TBI is sharing information gained through its law enforcement partners, including federal agencies, to assist Tennessee law enforcement with identifying and addressing Tren de Aragua members.
“We have additional intelligence information from our federal partners as well as other state and local entities,” said the director. Rausch explained TBI shares information when it is “particular, it’s specific,” but “those agencies may not be able to tell you what’s going on directly in their community, that we might know, because they aren’t exposed to it at this level yet.”
Rausch explained Tren de Aragua moves throughout Tennessee while orchestrating its human trafficking operations, local law enforcement “may be unaware of actors that may be moving in or out of their areas, that we are tracking. That’s not uncommon for those executives to not be aware of that type of detail in their community.”
The director said the gang moves throughout Tennessee’s major cities conducting human trafficking operations, adding this is typical behavior for Tren de Aragua before it begins organized retail theft.
“These individuals will move from human trafficking, and they will move into the organized retail theft path, and then from there they move into the drug path,” said Rausch. He later stated, “We are aware, we are watching them, we are tracking those that we know are here, and we also want the public to be diligent, as always, and paying attention in their communities for signs of things like human trafficking.”
After Rausch confirmed Tren de Aragua’s presence in all Tennessee’s major cities during a budget briefing with Governor Bill Lee, the bureau told The Star on November 13 that the gang is still primarily focused on human trafficking in the Volunteer State.
Watch Rausch’s full comments on Tren de Aragua:
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Operation Bluff City Blues” by US Marshals.
