A federal counterpunch to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Adams County that made headlines over this past weekend was a welcome development for law-abiding Coloradans — in more ways than one.

Over and above getting dozens of alleged, dangerous criminals off the streets, Sunday’s U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-led raid on a drug-trafficking ring operating in Colorado signals a recommitment to prosecuting our nation’s war on deadly drugs amid an overdose epidemic. The raid also is an early sign the week-old Trump administration is following through on its pledge to crack down on serious criminal activity by those who had entered the U.S. illegally in the first place. And it offers inspiration — and sets an example — for our own state’s authorities to renew the crime fight in a state slammed by a crime wave.

As reported in The Gazette, 41 of the 49 arrested inside a warehouse early Sunday morning were illegally in the country — many of them affiliated with Tren de Aragua, aka TdA — according to drug enforcement and immigration officials.

“We have been investigating them for several months,” the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen told The Denver Gazette. Authorities seized weapons, cash and illegal drugs, including “pink cocaine,” also known as “tusi,” a mixture of psychoactive substances, such as cocaine, ketamine, and methamphetamines.

Significantly, the DEA’s investigation involved some 100 local and federal personnel. That kind of integrated, local-state-federal cooperation — in combatting dangerous drugs as well as illegal immigrants trafficking in them — is essential to making the crime fight effective.

TdA has been making national news for months following reports its members had commandeered apartment complexes in Aurora, carrying out a host of other crimes and victimizing the many immigrant tenants. That drew in President Trump, who during last year’s presidential campaign had vowed to take on the gang in what he dubbed “Operation Aurora.”

Authorities say the gang’s range of criminal activities includes drug and human trafficking — particularly immigrant women and girls — kidnapping, extortion and money laundering. TdA originated in Venezuelan prisons and was exported to the U.S. amid the mass migration of Venezuelans fleeing a collapsing economy under their country’s authoritarian regime. U.S. officials have said TdA members wanted to make Denver their headquarters.

The Denver metro area has been particularly hard hit. About 90 immigrants, mostly from South and Central America, were dropped off in downtown Denver a couple of years ago. Since then, nearly 43,000 immigrants, many of whom crossed the border illegally to get into the U.S., have arrived in Denver — widely known to immigrants as a sanctuary city in a sanctuary state.

Colorado’s policy makers should reaffirm the pivotal role of our state and local law enforcement agencies in fighting the scourge of deadly drugs — and the unchecked national borders that allow those drugs to undermine us. This week’s raid serves as a potent reminder to state and local elected leaders — particularly in the Legislature and at city hall’s like Denver’s — to reassess their lax attitude toward crime, drugs and illegal immigration. It’s time to buckle down and, among other priorities, scrap state laws enacted in the last few years that restrict our law enforcement agencies’ ability to cooperate with federal authorities.

In a press statement, Pullen said: “DEA’s global mission is to keep the nation safe from the scourge of drug trafficking, and we will fight this battle every day on behalf of the people of Colorado and our country.” That’s commendable. It warrants a similar commitment from our own state.

the gazette editorial board