Cops in Aurora, Colorado were concerned about migrants in the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua terrorizing the city as early as last year — but the department’s brass and city officials continued to downplay the situation, according to leaked internal emails.
The correspondence, which Aurora Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky shared on X, appears to show that the Aurora Police Department was aware of TdA’s presence in the area as far back as November 2023 and that some cops were growing frustrated with the city’s response to the gang’s crimes.
The Post was the first to report on TdA’s infiltration of the city, its takeover of several poorly-maintained apartment complexes and its top leader, nicknamed “Cookie,” who was involved in at least two violent crimes.
Many of the emails attested that TdA was known to be taking over several apartment complexes across the Centennial State city even as officials publicly downplayed the situation.
One fed-up sergeant in the department’s homicide unit fumed in an Aug. 22 email that “many people in this agency have been denying the existence of TdA and saying the whole thing is blown out of proportion while at the same time, the patrol won’t respond to these locations without an armored vehicle.”
The officer then expressed a fear that “all hell is going to break loose” if Aurora officials continued to bury their heads in the sand.
“As soon as this group kills an innocent person all hell is going to break loose and I would hate for us all to be exposed for not sharing information with each other and/or not being able to show that we have dedicated proactive units and investigative units directly impacting this problem.”
The Post was not able to independently verify the veracity of the emails.
In response, the cop was told by another sergeant in the department’s gang and robbery unit that “we were told” there was a list of 120 “vetted” gangbangers — but that they were struggling to get any more information or cooperation from Homeland Security.
“I’ll only speak for myself, I feel we have never denied the existence of the problem. But we’ve been denied information to fully understand the problem,” the sergeant wrote in the response.
“Hopefully your email encourages more information sharing,” the cop added.
Another stunning email revealed that the Aurora Police Department was alerted about the Venezuelan gang’s presence in Denver in November 2023 — almost a year before the city was catapulted into national headlines in August when frightening video capturing a crew of gun-wielding men storming through an apartment complex went viral.
Federal law enforcement sources later confirmed to The Post that one of the men is an admitted member of TdA.
The communication from an officer within the department’s gang intervention unit, dated Nov. 16, acknowledged a warning from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement about TdA gaining a foothold in the area.
“I also spoke with an ICE agent today who reached out to his intel guy, the guy got back rather quickly, and stated TdA has decided to make Denver their headquarters due to sanctuary policies and location,” the email said.
Aurora, the third-most-populous city in Colorado, is about 10 miles east of Denver.
The officer said he planned on sending around a department-wide “Tren de Aragua bulletin” warning of the intel.
That email came in the same month that the brutal gang, led by TdA “shot-caller” Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, brutally assaulted a man at the Fitzsimons Place apartment complex in Aurora.
The complex was later shut down over code violations, which the owners said they couldn’t fix due to a takeover of the building by the gang, according to court documents obtained by The Post.
Chirino — who goes by “Galleta,” which is Spanish for “Cookie — was finally arrested in July for a shooting at the same complex, where two men were left wounded.
After the viral footage from the Edge at Lowry apartments emerged months later, Aurora’s then-interim police chief Heather Morris denied the gang had taken over the complex.
“I’m not saying there’s not gang members that don’t live in this community, but what we’re learning out here is that gang members have not taken over this complex,” said Morris.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also dismissed outrage over the gang’s takeover of Aurora apartment complexes as “imagination.”
A spokesperson for the city of Aurora told The Post it’s “aware” of the leaked emails, confirming that “more than a year ago, there was speculation and concern among some of our officers that members of TdA and/or other criminal elements were active in the city victimizing new members of the Venezuelan migrant community.”
However, the statement went on to insist that “police departments and the justice system as a whole must rely on admissible evidence, not hearsay, rumors and fragments of information.”
The spokesperson asserted that “contrary to claims made on social media and by select news organizations, the city, including APD, has remained consistent in responses on this matter.”
The Aurora Police Department continues to investigate TdA crimes, the statement added.