A district court in Texas has ordered the shutdown of El Paso’s Gateway Hotel for allegedly housing criminals belonging to the notoriously dangerous Tren de Aragua gang of Venezuela.
The El Paso County Attorney’s office accused the hotel of harboring criminals and initiated a lawsuit against the hotel owner. This led Judge Maria Salas-Mendoza to temporarily shut down the hotel until December 9, when the next court hearing is scheduled. During the December hearing, the judge will determine whether the hotel broke state laws and allowed criminals to operate within its premises. The county attorney’s office also claimed that the hotel’s license expired in 2018 and was never renewed.
According to the lawsuit, El Paso police received 693 complaints of crimes taking place at the hotel, including assaults, prostitution, and gang activity.
Furthermore, the attorney’s office wants the court to impose a long-term ban on the hotel until its owners pay the penalties for the crimes that have been taking place on their property.
The lawsuit claims that the owner of the hotel, Howard “Danny” Yun, has not taken sufficient steps to curb ongoing criminal activities and has “negligently” allowed gang members to infiltrate the area.
However, Christina Sanchez, the El Paso County Attorney, argued that her lawsuit does not specifically target any particular gang’s involvement.
El Paso police officers have revealed that the hotel had poor physical infrastructure, including non-operational elevators, broken stairwells, and blocked fire exits.
Police officers also claimed that the hotel management’s inability to take corrective measures was detrimental to public safety. The police also found some non-uniformed people working at the hotel.
Tren de Aragua has been making headlines recently after it was reported that its members took over a Colorado housing complex. Their suspected presence in El Paso has once again made them a topic of debate.
Elon Musk reposted a photo of Tren de Aragua members taking over the hotel, captioning it: “Mad Max is becoming real fast,” referring to the growing resemblance of real-world events to the chaotic and lawless dystopia depicted in the Mad Max films.
When asked how the hotel managed to remain open for six years despite lacking an occupancy certificate, El Paso’s Democratic Mayor Oscar Leeser suggested that as long as hotels show progress in improving their services and conduct, the government allows them to continue operating.
Leeser said that he was told the hotel was making progress in improving its conduct, adding that his administration will now closely examine the matter.
The mayor denied that his administration was at fault for allowing the hotel to remain operational.
