Share and Follow
DENVER (KDVR) — Federal officials in Colorado Springs early Sunday morning conducted a major operation at an “underground nightclub” and arrested more than 100 people they say entered the U.S. illegally.
More than 300 law enforcement officers assisted in the operation, which was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division after a months-long investigation.
Agencies involved included the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations Denver, the FBI Denver field office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and Homeland Security Investigations, as well as local agencies Colorado Springs Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
The nightclub was located near Airport Road and South Academy Boulevard, according to FOX21, and the DEA said officials made entry around 3:45 a.m. Sunday. Drugs and weapons were seized in the underground nightclub where more than 200 people were inside when law enforcement arrived.
“This is an underground, illegal nightclub and what was happening inside was significant drug trafficking, prostitution, crimes of violence, [and] we seized a number of guns in there,” DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen told FOX21 at a press conference.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on X Sunday morning said the nightclub was “frequented by Tda and MS-13 terrorists,” and that law enforcement seized cocaine, meth and pink cocaine. Pullen confirmed they had seen Tren de Aragua, TdA, and MS-13 members, as well as Hell’s Angels, at the nightclub, but could not confirm Sunday morning if any members were among the arrests.
“As we approach his 100 days in office, Trump’s directive to make America safe again is achieving results,” Bondi said.
More than a dozen active-duty service members were also found at the club, according to Pullen.
“We had active-duty service members who were running security at the club and involved in some of these crimes,” Pullen said. “It’s obviously concerning to have active-duty military involved. We are working with our partners at Army CID on that piece.”
Pullen said the Army’s Criminal Investigations Division is assisting the DEA with the servicemembers at the nightclub.
The DEA on X said that more than 100 people arrested Sunday are in ICE ERO custody awaiting deportation. They also said the Department of Homeland Security “placed patrons (in the U.S. illegally) on buses for processing and likely eventual deportation.”
Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said the sheriff’s office assisted in the Colorado Springs operation in a “support role” for a drugs and guns operation but that Colorado does have issues with immigration.
“Colorado without question has been a hub for illegal immigration due to the sanctuary policies of the city of Denver in conjunction with radical legislation (including this session) from the State Capitol affirming Colorado’s sanctuary status,” Weekly said in a statement to FOX31. “As the Sheriff of Douglas County, I will do everything I can within Colorado law to support our federal partners. This, in turn, helps keep my community safe.”
Earlier this year, the DEA also raided what they called a “makeshift nightclub” in Adams County and arrested more than 40 people who were in the country illegally.