Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman says Venezuelan gangs have taken over an apartment building

The Venezuelan gangs that have reportedly robbed several apartment buildings in Colorado are part of an “organized criminal enterprise,” the city’s mayor insisted Thursday.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman responded to shocking footage that emerged this week showing a group of heavily armed men storming an apartment complex in the Denver suburb, which locals say has been taken over by gangs.

“This is an organized criminal effort. Whether it’s Tren de Aragua, that remains to be seen,” Coffman said on Fox News, referring to the notorious South American prison gang. “But it doesn’t really matter. I mean, if it’s Venezuelan migrants committing crime in an organized manner, they’re a problem.”

Coffman, a Republican, alleged that at least two buildings “have fallen into the hands of these Venezuelan gangs,” with gang members “pushing out” the property management “through intimidation.”

The footage, captured earlier this month and obtained by KDVR, shows three men with handguns and one with a rifle inside the building shortly before a shooting broke out.

Another clip, at a different time, shows two men using a tyre iron to break into a home in the same complex called The Edge in Lowry where migrants have moved in.

The city’s leader criticized the federal government for allowing migrants to flood into the country, many of whom have traveled to the sanctuary city of Denver, about 10 miles west of Aurora.

Coffman also raised questions about how migrants ended up in Aurora after he made it clear they were not welcome.

“I think we are the victim of failed policies at the southern border… you have these massive waves of migrants coming across the border, many of whom are coming across the border illegally, have been arrested, have applied for political asylum, have not been adequately screened and have been released back into the country,” the mayor told Fox News.

“The city of Aurora, we’ve done everything we can to keep them out of the city, quite frankly, because it’s not our problem. This is a federal problem.”

Coffman said federal officials may have worked with nonprofits to place migrants in the building, attracting criminals to the apartment complex who wanted to exploit the migrants.

Despite the claims made by Coffman and Aurora Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ office denied that the buildings had been seized by gang members.

A spokesperson told The Post that police information about this “alleged invasion” was largely fabricated.

The governor’s aide also noted that “it is illegal to take over buildings in Colorado.”