Two migrants have been detained by a Cook County judge after a federal investigation into gunrunning and narcotics trafficking in Chicago by the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).
In a detention petition, Illinois Assistant Attorney General Thomas Darman said the case, led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, began in May when authorities suspected the gang was moving narcotics and firearms into the city.
As part of the operation, an informant working for the ATF arranged to purchase “Tusi,” a street drug created by mixing methamphetamine with substances including cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, and fentanyl, Darman said.
On May 14, the informant and an undercover ATF agent met two men and a woman in the parking lot of a McDonald’s at 6515 South Western Avenue, according to Darman. There, the trio allegedly sold the informant and agent nearly 48 grams of Tusi and three loaded firearms: a 9mm pistol, a .45-caliber pistol, and a .40-caliber pistol. A Drug Enforcement Administration lab later determined the Tusi contained ketamine and MDMA…