Share and Follow
DENVER (KDVR) — Federal and local law enforcement agencies raided a “makeshift nightclub” in Adams County early Sunday morning and took nearly 50 people living in the country illegally into custody, according to an X post from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division.
The DEA, Homeland Security, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and “local partners” seized drugs, weapons and cash in the 5 a.m. drug trafficking raid. The raid was connected to a DEA drug trafficking investigation that began several months before President Donald Trump took office during the Biden Administration, a DEA official said.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations also detained nearly 50 people, many of which are “connected with the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang from Venezuela,” according to the DEA on X. The raid was at an “invite-only” party connected to TdA at the nightclub.
“For the last several months, DEA has been running an ongoing investigation against the Venezuelan gang called TdA,” Jonathan Pullen, special agent in charge for DEA Denver said. “Last night, we executed a federal search warrant on a location that we’re sort of calling a makeshift nightclub. This nightclub only sets up on certain weekends and it’s invitation-only to members of TdA and their associates.”
-
The DEA said the nearly 50 people arrested were taken away on this bus. (Courtesy Drug Enforcement Agency) -
A screenshot of a video posted by the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Rocky Mountain Division showing people being detained. (Courtesy Drug Enforcement Agency via X) -
A screenshot of a video of people detained by federal officials. (Courtesy Drug Enforcement Agency) -
Federal agencies raided a makeshift nightclub in Adams County and detained nearly 50 people living in the country illegally. (Courtesy Drug Enforcement Agency)
Pullen said there were more than 50 people inside the club, and they seized drugs including cocaine, crack cocaine and a drug called Tusi which he said has also been referred to as “pink cocaine.” ICE officials determined nearly 50 of those people were people living in the country illegally.
“Denver had a problem with this Venezuelan gang called TdA. Our investigation started in the summer, we’ve seized quite a large amount of drugs from TdA members, including fentanyl,” Pullen said. “That really raised the awareness inside DEA of how important this gang was. We started really focusing on them across Denver and Aurora, and really around the metro area. Since then, we’ve been able to identify a lot more members and their network and that’s what led us to this nightclub.”
The DEA also posted a video of a bus they say took away the people without permanent legal status.
Illegal immigration crackdowns are happening around the country, including in Chicago.
