Venezuelan Gangs Spreading Beyond Aurora as Minimum Wage Threatens Small Business

On September 12, 2024, John Fabbricatore and Susan Kochevar joined the show. Former ICE Director warns that Tren de Aragua is establishing operations faster than MS-13 did, with activity now confirmed in Colorado Springs, Dallas, and Montana 88 Drive-In Theater owner details how Adams County’s proposed minimum wage increase compounds the devastating property tax hikes she already faces

Transnational Criminal Organizations Establish Foothold in Colorado

Start listening at 20:05 – Hour 1

John Fabbricatore, a retired Senior Executive Service member and former field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, breaks down the alarming speed at which Tren de Aragua has established operations in the United States. Having served the government for over 30 years and raised his family in Aurora, Fabbricatore brings firsthand expertise to the crisis unfolding in his own community.

The gang’s expansion extends well beyond Aurora and Denver. Fabbricatore reveals that law enforcement sources have identified Tren de Aragua activity in Colorado Springs, Dallas, and even Montana. He emphasizes that this is not a traditional street gang but a transnational criminal organization with a corporate structure, engaged in extortion, prostitution, human smuggling, and drug trafficking.

Fabbricatore connects the gang’s rapid establishment to the Biden-Harris administration’s border policies, noting that hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have entered the country since the border crisis began. He also highlights a troubling pattern: nearly a dozen gun store smash-and-grab robberies in the Denver metro area over just five months, including at Sportsman’s Warehouse and DCF in Colorado Springs.

“Tren de Aragua as a gang is getting a foothold faster than MS-13 did during the 90s and 2000s, which is pretty scary that they’re able to set up shop and kind of do what they do with it, with extortion and prostitution and human smuggling and drug trafficking, way faster than other established gangs have.”

John Fabbricatore, Former ICE Field Office Director

Forced Minimum Wage Compounds Property Tax Crisis

Start listening at 72:00 – Hour 2

Susan Kochevar, owner of the historic 88 Drive-In Theater, details how government mandates are systematically destroying stable, long-established businesses. After seeing her property taxes skyrocket from $14,000 to $40,000 in a single year, she now faces the prospect of Adams County implementing its own minimum wage increase on top of the state mandate.

Kochevar explains that the minimum wage debate ignores fundamental business realities. When wages rise, employers must also pay higher matching contributions for Medicare, Social Security, family leave, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation since all are calculated as percentages of payroll. She notes the survey Adams County is using to gather public input contains leading questions that only present reasons to support the increase, with no consideration for job losses or business closures.

The entrepreneur draws a stark contrast between Kamala Harris’s proposal to give startup businesses $50,000 and the plight of established businesses struggling to survive. She argues this approach picks winners and losers, giving new competitors free money while decades-old community anchors bear the full burden of regulations and taxes.

“What about all the people who lose their jobs, as businesses have to cut back because they have to pay more?”

Susan Kochevar, Owner of 88 Drive-In Theater