Republican's wild cartel claims crumble as ICE denies ever meeting with him

A Republican gubernatorial candidate in Colorado claims that thousands of members of the Venezuelan transnational criminal gang Tren de Aragua are operating in the state — but dozens of law enforcement officials beg to differ.

According to 9 News, state Rep. Scott Bottoms "said Colorado is under siege from a 'foreign criminal army' of 45,000 to 50,000 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) operating in Colorado." The problem is, that would be about ten times as many Tren de Aragua members as exist in the entire world, according to the most liberal estimates of the National Counterterrorism Center.

"When 9NEWS asked Bottoms for evidence of his claim, Bottoms said the information came 'from direct conversations with ICE officials about this exact problem in our state,'" said the report. However, ICE spokesperson Steve Kotecki told 9 News, "HSI Denver and ERO Denver leadership has not met with nor had conversations with Representative Bottoms.”

In yet another humiliation, over 40 sheriffs across Colorado have refuted his claim, and rejected his idea of deputizing military action against gangs in Colorado by special forces veterans.

"'Absolutely not,' said Prowers County Sheriff Sam Zordel, a Republican," said the report. "'I don’t know where Scott is getting his information, but it’s certainly not from me,' said Kit Carson County Sheriff Travis Belden, a Republican. 'And I would be amazed if he’s heard that directly from any other sheriff.'" Meanwhile, independent Ouray County Sheriff Justin Perry said, "This is absurd. Ouray County has no presence of Venezuelan cartel that I am aware of, and I certainly am not deputizing a group of special forces citizens for any cartel-related operations.”

Conspiracy theories about foreign gangs in Colorado have been kicking around for years; in 2024, Republicans pushed claims that Tren de Aragua had effectively taken over the city of Aurora and were even running apartment complexes there, but local officials debunked this on no uncertain terms.