DEA: Over 100 migrants detained at nightclub
By: Thao Nguyen
USA Today
..... More than 100 people who are allegedly in the U.S. unlawfully were arrested in all overnight raid at an underground nightclub in east-central Colorado, the Drug Enforcement Administration said.
.....
At least 114 people were detained and place on :buses for processing and likely eventual deportation" in Colorado Springs on April 27, [2025] according to the DEA's Rocky Mountain Division. The arrests were part of an enforcement operations and drug investigation involving federal and local agencies, said DEA Rocky Mountain Division Special agents in Charge Jonathan Pullen.
..... "This is an underground, illegal nightclub,: Pullen said at a news conference on April 27. [2025] "What was happening inside was significant drug trafficking, prostitution (and) crimes of violence. We seized a number of guns in there."
..... Dozens of "small packages of drugs" were also recovered at the scene, including cocaine and a concoction of substances known as "pink cocaine" or "tusi," Pullen added. More than a dozen active-duty service members were also at the nightclub, with some working as armed security and others as patroons, according to Pullen.
..... Immigration who are believed to be undocumented were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Pullen said. The Army Criminal Investigation Division will investigate the active-duty service members who were detained, he added.
.....
No one who was arrested at the nightclub has been publicly indented.
..... The raid occurred just a day after ICE authorities announced that nearly 800 people were arrest in the first few days of Operation Tidal Wave, a multi-agency immigration enforcement crackdown in Florida.
.....
Since taking office in January [2025] President Donald Trump has launched a sweeping immigration crackdown, clashing with federal judges as well as state and local officials. Immigration raids across the United States have been highly publicized by federal authorities in recent months amid Trump's push of mass deportations.
..... More than 200 people had been inside the underground nightclub for an "illegal party: early on April 27 [2025] when officers and agents entered the building, according to the DEA. The agency said it gave multiple warnings telling people inside the building to come out before arrests began at around 3:45 A.M. local time.
..... Videos and images shared on social media by the DEA showed officers and agents in tactical gear swarming outside the building. One video showed an officer smashing a window on the front of the building as people fled through a door, where additional armed officers and agents were waiting.
..... In the video, law enforcement authorities were seen shouting at people to top and get down on the ground. That video showed many people complying by putting their hands up or getting down on their knees.
..... Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged that the nightclub was "frequented by TdA and MS-13 terrorists," referring to two criminal gangs. According to Bondi, two pope at the nightclub were also arrested on existing warrants.
..... Contributing: John Bacon, USA Today; Reuters