Exclusive | How migrant gang Tren de Aragua is luring women into forced prostitution in 8 states — including along NYC’s ‘Market of Sweethearts’

The vicious Venezuelan migrant gang Tren de Aragua is luring desperate women deep into the heart of the US, forcing them to sell their bodies on the streets of American cities to pay off exorbitant smuggling fees, a newly leaked law enforcement document obtained by The Post reveals.

At least eight states have seen an explosion in migrant prostitution since the gang laid down roots in the US, with authorities in Texas, Nevada, Illinois, California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and New York now fighting to curtail the sex trade, the memo shows.

And the victims may be operating out in the open on the streets of New York City. On Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, sex workers and madams openly ply their trade on sidewalks.

It’s called the “Market of Sweethearts” — and it’s bustling every day of the week. One suspected brothel operates openly across from two elementary schools, with parents walking their kids past the seedy joint’s hawker as they head to class.

Law enforcement sources in New York said the storefront brothels are suspected of having ties to Tren de Aragua — which recruits members and victims out of city migrant shelters.

In the Big Apple, Tren de Aragua is trying to recruit foot soldiers to force women into sex trafficking — in the hopes that it will become a main source of income for the gang, according to the leaked memo.

For so many women caught up in the vicious cycle of sex trafficking, the promise of a life in the US is nothing more than an inescapable prison sentence, according to the memo, which was circulated to federal and local law enforcement agencies around the country.

“Once their fee is paid, they are allegedly free to go,” the memo said. “For some women, the debt is almost impossible to pay off due to penalty fees added by TdA members as punishment.”

Tren de Aragua, which started as a Venezuelan prison gang, has made its presence in the US known in recent months as multi-state migrant crime syndicate engaging in gun smuggling, thefts, shootings and apartment and hotel takeovers. It has been subject to at least 100 law enforcement investigations across the US.

Their illicit operation includes running armed robbery crews disguised as food delivery workers and dealing guns and a lethal fentanyl mix known as Tussi, or “pink cocaine.”

But it is the sex-trafficking that has marred many neighborhoods across the country. The gang has established “sex trafficking rings” as part of the various “migrant pathways” into the US.”

The gangbangers sell the lurid scam to migrant women in South and Central America, offering a path into the US — mostly via El Paso, Texas — before shipping them to other states.

But once the women are ensnared, the deal begins to change, as TdA “provides the women with clothes, beauty/hygiene care, and a place to live, which is added to their smuggling fee,” the memo said.

The predatory gang members also take a cut of all the money the women earn turning tricks — making it nearly impossible to pay their debts.

In addition to the gang’s sex trafficking in New York, Tren de Aragua also took over the Gateway hotel in the West Texas border city, wielding guns and hatchets while also engaging in fights that led to 700 calls to cops.

Surveillance cameras captured raucous partying, and men and women cavorting in the hallways — all while children were present at the hotel.

TdA is also expected to continue to expand its operations North Carolina, per the memo.