A suspect wanted in the Dominican Republic in connection to two murders and a suspected gang member seen in a viral video entering a Colorado apartment with his alleged gun-toting crew were arrested by federal agents as part of ramped-up immigration enforcement in New York City.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined federal agents Tuesday in the city to announce the arrests of dozens of immigrants wanted on criminal charges in the Bronx and Washington Heights. Noem was the latest high-ranking official from President Donald Trump's administration to tout the new sweeping immigration crackdown.
“Arresting some criminal aliens this morning in NYC — thank you to the brave officers involved,” Noem posted on X. “Criminal alien with kidnapping, assault & burglary charges is now in custody — thanks to @ICE. Dirtbags like this will continue to be removed from our streets.”
Exclusive video obtained by NBC New York showed federal agents swarming into a Washington Heights building, hours after a similar sting in the Bronx. One video showed a man in handcuffs being led away from his home on Audubon Avenue. It was not clear what charges the man, who was not identified, faced. The building super told NBC New York the man had lived there for a while and may have worked as a delivery driver.
An operation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents along Ogden Avenue in the Bronx early Tuesday snared Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco. Authorities said the 26-year-old was part of a group of men, including members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, who entered an apartment in Aurora, Colorado, in Summer 2024 and were recorded on a widely viewed video.
The charges were brought by local authorities in Colorado. It was not immediately clear what would happen next for Zambrano-Pacheco, who was taken into ICE custody. Two other men who police said were in the video were arrested in New York in November. They were still in ICE custody as of Tuesday.
The incident caught President Donald Trump's attention during the presidential campaign, and he announced a plan called “Operation Aurora” to target migrant gangs. The video led Trump to claim that the Denver suburb had been taken over by the gang, which city officials denied.
In an arrest warrant, Aurora police said Zambrano-Pacheco was also wanted in a kidnapping in which at least 20 armed men abducted and threatened two people in late June. In addition, police said Zambrano-Pacheco was with a group of armed men before a shooting occurred shortly after the apartment incident that was caught on video.
It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer or if he was a member of Tren de Aragua.
Local and federal authorities, including Aurora police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investigated the apartment video incident for months beginning when Joe Biden was president.
Zambrano-Pacheco was the fifth person to be arrested in connection with the Aurora apartment incident. The video showed six armed men, including at least some people identified as Tren de Aragua members by federal authorities, entering the apartment shortly before a fatal shooting outside the complex.
A spokesperson for the DEA's New York office and two other law enforcement sources said another man arrested had been wanted in the Dominican Republic in connection with an investigation into two murders. No further information, including the man's identity, was immediately available.
Some of Tuesday's early morning raids were also done with the help of agents from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (ATF), who were looking for undocumented suspects linked to alleged organized crime activities or other criminal acts.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was not publicly available Tuesday while taking some time away for health reasons, in a statement said that the NYPD assisted ICE's efforts.
"We will not hesitate to partner with federal authorities to bring violent criminals to justice — just as we have done for years," the statement from the mayor read.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said Tuesday's arrests did not appear to be part of a “wholesale raid,” but rather an operation targeting specific people accused of crimes.
“I want to be clear, there’s always been ICE raids in the state of New York, even in the past. This is not a new dynamic," she said. "My understanding is they were targeting a known gang member."
After being processed at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan, many of those arrested were being moved to immigration detention centers. Immigration lawyers told NBC New York that some will face expedited removal from the U.S., while others will be entitled to an immigration court hearing.
No one answered the door at apartment 1A by the entrance to the building where Zambrano-Pacheco was detained. But Richard Egu, 50, who lives in a third-floor unit, said he was roused from sleep by the commotion around 5 a.m.
Egu, a correctional officer who is originally from Nigeria and has been a naturalized citizen for more than 15 years, said he didn’t venture out to investigate and did not know the man who was arrested.
He said he understood the need to arrest and deport those in the country illegally who commit crimes, but he also worries about the effect such enforcement will have in the community.
“You need to give immigrants a chance. These people are already here,” he said. “Figure out the ones who are committing the crimes. Don’t just judge all immigrants as criminals.”
Some advocates for the undocumented with families say there is real fear, even among those who have been in the country for more than a decade. Officials have said the targeted sweeps are expected to continue in NYC this week. We're told some communities in North Jersey could see an enforcement push starting the first week of February.
"We are seeing folks are afraid to go to work and participate in the economy, afraid to send kids to school or seek out health care," said Queens City Councilmember Tiffany Caban.
Alexa Aviles, chair of the City Council’s immigration committee, said they are hearing of "panic in immigrant communities." Other elected officials expressed concern for the others swept up in the raids.
"What I’m worried about is all of the other arrests. Who are they? There’s reporting that 8 of them have no charges of any crimes," said Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat who represents part of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.
In Chicago, city leaders criticized the highly publicized enforcement operations that started over the weekend in the nation’s third-largest city. That included the surprising decision to allow daytime television psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw to livestream immigrant arrests alongside Homan.
“This desire to popularize fear is unconscionable and abhorrent,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday at a City Hall news conference alongside Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, city lawyers and others. “We’re talking about people’s lives.”
Johnson defended the city’s strong sanctuary protections that bar Chicago police from cooperating with federal immigration agents. Chicago has been a so-called sanctuary city for decades and has strengthened those protections several times, including during Trump’s first term.
ICE has offered few details about the operation in Chicago, including the number of arrests. The agency did not return a message seeking comment Tuesday.
Snelling said Chicago police have communicated with federal agents but did not participate in the operation or cooperate. He estimated roughly 100 people were taken into custody.
Associated Press writers Colleen Slevin, Sophia Tareen, Melissa Perez Winder, Philip Marcelo and Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report.
