British man’s tattoo wrongly linked to Venezuelan gang in US government document
A tattoo belonging to a man from Derbyshire has appeared in a US government document used to identify members of a notorious Venezuelan gang – despite the man having no connection to the group.
Pete Belton, 44, from Ilkeston says he was shocked to find his forearm featured in a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document used to help identify alleged members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a transnational criminal organisation.
“I’m just an average middle-aged man from Derbyshire,” he told BBC Verify.
Mr Belton said it was a “bit strange, bit funny at first” but is now worried the family trip he booked to Miami with his wife and daughter in August might end up “being a six month all-inclusive holiday to Guantanamo”.
The Trump administration has already deported hundreds of alleged gang members to a high-security jail in El Salvador. Lawyers for some of those deportees say they have been incorrectly identified as TdA members based on their tattoos.
Source: BBC | Language: English