Let’s dive into this wild situation unfolding in Texas. It all starts with a hotel in El Paso, where the owner is now knee-deep in legal trouble due to what authorities are calling rampant criminal activity. And this isn’t your average crime scene—what's being described here is straight out of an action movie, with suspected Venezuelan gang members allegedly running the show.
This notorious gang, Tren De Aragua, has been making headlines, especially in the run-up to the 2024 election. And now, it's linked to some serious chaos at the Gateway Hotel in downtown El Paso. According to court documents, the conditions inside the hotel are just horrible.
Video evidence shows people partying in the hallways, flashing weapons, and engaging in violent behavior right in front of children—an environment no one should have to endure.
If that isn’t enough, the footage also allegedly shows guns being fired, people being threatened, and weapons like knives and even a hatchet being used, with one person seen attacking others and damaging hotel property.
All this, mind you, with a security guard in plain view. It’s clear that this wasn’t a one-time event, either. The hotel has been hit with over 690 calls to the police over the last two years. That’s not a typo—693 times police had to respond to various reports of crime ranging from drug use to aggravated assaults.
But it gets worse. The hotel has been running without a valid certificate of occupancy for nearly six years. That's a major violation, and despite multiple inspections and failures, no action had been taken until now. The County Attorney, Christina Sanchez, is pushing for a restraining order and a temporary injunction against the hotel. Her argument is clear: the hotel has become a haven for illegal activities, and it’s putting the entire community at risk.
In the mix of all this, Tren De Aragua’s name keeps popping up. This gang isn’t new to the scene. Formed in Venezuela about 15 years ago, it’s grown into the country’s largest crime syndicate. Now it’s expanding across Latin America and even into the U.S., involved in everything from drug trafficking to human smuggling. Their presence in El Paso has locals on edge, especially since the gang seems to be using the hotel as a base of operations.
Even the political world is weighing in. Representative Tony Gonzales didn’t mince words when he told *Newsweek* that these Venezuelan gangs are “pure evil.” And with the video footage from Aurora, Colorado, showing similar violent scenes involving this same gang, the issue is fast becoming a national talking point.
The owner of the Gateway Hotel, Howard Yun, finds himself in a legal quagmire. Despite the hotel being in operation since 2018, it’s clear the safety and regulatory standards have not been met for years, and now the law is coming down hard. It remains to be seen what the final outcome will be, but one thing is for sure—the days of chaos at this hotel are numbered.