The Denver Gazette compiled together a timeline of events surrounding the three apartment complexes in Aurora operated by CBZ Management and taken over by a Venezuelan gang, using records obtained either through sources or formally under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) as well as court documents.

Tren de Aragua, or TDA, is a Venezuelan prison gang turned transnational criminal organization that is operating in the metro Denver region.

To date, local authorities have arrested eight individuals and linked 10 to the gang, alleging members have engaged in various criminal activities from robbery and assault to multiple shootings and domestic violence.

April 1, 2021 — Aurora officials begin documenting a case against CBZ Management — which owns Aspen Grove, Whispering Pines and the Edge of Lowry in Aurora — for health and safety issues that includes rodent infestations, sewage backups and trash pileups, water leaks, shattered or missing windows and a lack of electricity.

2023

Sept. 21 — Officers with the Aurora Police Department begin asking for intel — tattoos, monikers and associates — for TdA gang members.

Sept. 22 — Aurora police officers say in internal emails that they are working with U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents on a Sept. 10, 2023 shooting at the Aspen Grove apartment complex.

Oct. 5 — An internal police bulletin discloses that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified 400 TdA members in New York state suspected to be involved in drug trafficking, homicide, kidnapping and prostitution.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) intelligence shows TdA has decided to make Denver their headquarters in the U.S. because of its “sanctuary city” status.

Nov. 14 — Several men who had been drinking and listening to loud music in an empty unit at the Whispering Pines complex severely beat the property manager, Zev Baumgarten.

Nov. 16  — Aurora Police identify 15-to-20 suspected TdA members in the Aurora-Denver area.

2024

Jan. 3 — Authorities arrest TDA gang member Luis Miguel Calzadilla-Rojas, 32, in connection with a shooting outside the Arapahoe County Probation Office that happened earlier that day.

Jan. 11  — Officials in the City Manager’s Office see “abating” the deteriorating issues at Aspen Grove, 99-unit apartment complex on Nome Street near the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, as a “political problem.”

Feb. 4 — A hit-and-run at the Whispering Pines complex leads Aurora police to later speak to TDA gang member Yorman Camilo Sangronis-Garcia, 27, about the incident.

March 17 — TDA gang member, Juan Carlos Mejia-Espana, 27, is arrested by Aurora police at the Whispering Pines apartment complex following an alleged domestic dispute involving a weapon.

March 28 — Aurora police arrest Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirinos, a TDA gang member, on a first-degree assault warrant out of Adams District Court, tying back to an assault at an apartment in November 2023.

May 24 — CBZ Management, through its attorney, sends a letter to Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman attributing poor living conditions at two of the company’s apartment complexes to high crime areas and homelessness. The attorneys also say that the company has spent nearly $400,000 to address issues at the properties.

June 24 — Eight men — at least one, a TDA gang member — storm the Joyeria el Ruby jewelry store in northwest Denver, making off with about $2.5 million in fine jewelry.

June 27 — TDA informs the landlords of Aspen Grove, Whispering Pines and the Edge at Lowry that the gang is now in charge of these apartment complexes.

June 28 — An attorney for CBZ Management writes a letter to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser asking the state to intervene. Weiser refers the attorney to local officials. Around this date, according to Aurora officials, CBZ Management seeks to hire off-duty police officers to provide security for their properties, but the city denies their request.

June 30  — The cleaning crew staff Whispering Pines and Aspen Grove inform police that TdA gang members threatened them to release keys to vacant apartments.

July 3 — The attorney for CBZ Management writes a letter to Aurora City Manager Jason Batchelor pleading for help to deal with the Venezuelan gang that has “forcibly taken control” of three apartment complexes.

July 10 — Aurora police arrest Larry Medina, 28, a TDA gang member, in connection with a felony menacing incident that occurred on July 2.

July 11 — The Biden Administration sanctions TDA, believing the gang is behind a spree of kidnappings, extortion and other crimes tied to immigrants from South and Central America. Federal officials also offer $12 million reward for three TDA leaders.

July 28 — Aurora police respond to shots fired at the Aspen Grove complex at about 4:30 a.m., finding two men suffering from gunshot wounds and a third who had broken his ankle jumping out of a window. Later in the day, as many as 4,000 immigrants gather in Aurora to celebrate the election loss of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The impromptu celebration clogs the intersection at Mississippi Avenue and Havana Street for most of the evening and is punctuated with thefts and gunshots fired in the air.

July 29 — Aurora officers arrest four gang members in connection with the July 28 shooting at Aspen Grove: Nixon Jose Azuaje-Perez, 19, Dixon J. Azuaje-Perez, 20, Pacheco-Chirinos, 22, and Jhonnarty DeJesus Pacheco-Chirinos, 24. Also, Homeland Security agents in Las Cruces arrest TDA gang member Jean Torres-Roman, 21, in New Mexico, alleging his involvement in the June 24 jewelry heist in Denver.

July 30 — Media outlets across the United States — including The Denver Gazette — begin reporting that TDA has given “the green light” for gang members to attack or fire on law enforcement.

July 31 — Federal officials confirm TDA is operating in Colorado.

Aug. 5 — A Florida PR firm sends out a press release saying the TDA gang has taken over multiple apartment complexes in Aurora, evicting property managers and extorting rent from residents. Aurora police arrest TDA gang member Yoendry Vilchez Medina-Jose, 33, at the Whispering Pines complex in connection with an assault at the apartments in November 2023.

Aug. 7 — City officials begin notifying Aspen Grove residents at 1568 Nome St. that the buildings were designated “unsafe for human habitation” and that evictions will take place the following week. Acting Aurora Police Deputy Chief Chris Juul assigns four detectives to a special task force to investigate the gang’s activity in the city.

Aug. 9 — The international law firm Perkins Coie — at the behest of a lender — writes Batchelor to share its investigation into alleged criminal activities at Whispering Pines apartments, a 54-unit complex in Aurora. The 10-page letter outlines a gang operation that includes establishing a “lower-level” presence last year that escalated into violence and intimidation with the goal of turning the apartment complex into a steady source of income for the gang.

Aug. 12 — Peter Schulte, Aurora’s assistant city attorney, and CBZ Management reach an agreement to drop all the charges against the owner of the Aspen Grove complex in exchange for the owner selling or leasing the property — or “similar disposition” — and assuming the costs to board up, clean and secure the building.

Aug. 13 — Aurora officials board up the Aspen Grove complex and evict about 300 people. City officials say the Venezuelan gang is not responsible for the issues that have been plaguing the Aspen Grove complex for months. 

Aug. 22 — An internal police email reveals a federal task force was “cut out of all communication and investigations” with the Regional Anti-Violence Enforcement Network (RAVEN), a multi-jurisdictional group comprised of than a dozen state, local and federal agencies.

Aurora officer discloses in an email that patrol will not respond to CBZ Management properties “without an armored vehicle.”

Aug. 23 — Aurora police officers learn of is a list of 120 vetted TdA members with the top five “shot callers” at problem addresses.

Sept. 9 — Coffman offers police protection to two gang-affected apartment complexes, after initially denying the landlord’s request, and threatens to board up the properties if the owners do not resume “providing routine services.”

Sept. 11 — After publicly denying the gang’s involvement at these complexes for weeks, Coffman and Aurora Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky issue a joint statement admitting that city officials knew about TDA’s actions months ago. The Aurora Police Department releases the names of 10 suspects linked to the Venezuelan gang, eight of whom have been arrested over the past year.

Sept. 20 — Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain announces at a press conference that they had obtained arrest warrants for Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 25, Niefred Jose Serpa-Acosta, 20, and Naudi Lopez-Fernandez, 21, on charges of first-degree burglary and menacing with a firearm. The trio are suspected TdA gang members the department is working to verify.