Tennessee police are warning of increased Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang activity in their four major cities, with a top police official blaming the “porous” southern border.

“This gang exploited (the border),” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said at “The fox and friends.” Friday.

Rausch said the gang fled human trafficking operations and expanding into other criminal activities in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.

“They go from human trafficking to organized retail crime theft, then they go into the drug trade, taking on the cartels in very violent and bloody battles that they’ve had.”

NEW REPORT WARNS BLOODTHIRST VENEZUELA GANG’S FOOTPRINT WILL LIST FOR ‘DECADES’

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch joined “Fox & Friends” to discuss Tren de Aragua gang activity in the four major cities of his state.

Rausch added that TdA has “zero respect” for police and attacked US law enforcement. He added that the group was caught two years ago in a trafficking operation, but has made a comeback in recent years.

Rausch said law enforcement is limited in their efforts to crack down on TdA-related activities, especially if the suspects do not have immigration “holds.”

“If we come upon them and they have a holder on them, then we can take them into custody. But other than that, then all we can do is monitor and make sure they don’t break the law. But that’s a challenge,” Rausch said, calling it an increasingly dangerous “cat and mouse” game.

Rausch ADVISED Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) during a budget hearing on the gang resurgence in Tennessee’s major cities.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Department of Homeland Security recommended last month that more than 100 migrants it identified as having possible ties to a bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang be placed on an FBI watch list, after the agency flagged more than 600 with possible ties overall.

NBC News first reported that DHS has identified more than 600 people with possible ties to Tren de Aragua and that 100 of those are considered “subjects of interest.” Fox confirmed that he recommended they be placed on the FBI’s Transnational Criminal Organization Watch List.

Goose it is believed to have started in Tocoron prison in Venezuela’s Aragua state and has since spread to Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the US. In a statement, DHS said the identities emerged as part of an ongoing re-evaluation operation to address the gang.

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.