Over 100 undocumented immigrants detained at 'underground nightclub' in Colorado, DEA says
Denver DEA Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen said more than 100 people were detained after a monthslong investigation involving the Colorado Springs club led to the Saturday night raid that ran into the early morning hours Sunday.
Some of the patrons were arrested based on active state warrants, he said at a news conference. United States Attorney General Pam Bondi put the number of people arrested based on warrants at two.
Also inside the club, Pullen said, were guns, drugs and more than a dozen active-duty service members posing as patrons or working as armed security.
"As you may suspect, when the cops showed up at the door, most of the drugs hit the floor and we did find cocaine," he said. "We haven't had time to test everything, but there were dozens of small packages."
U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division personnel were present at the raid and were helping investigate, Pullen said. The division and U.S. Army Public Affairs at nearby Fort Carson did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday night.
The DEA posted video of the moments before the raid on social media. It shows law enforcement officers in tactical gear surrounding the location and audio of warnings in English and Spanish to those inside to exit peacefully.
Pullen alleged the club in what appears to be a strip mall was a location for drug deals and sex workers. Events there were under surveillance by law enforcement for months, he said.
"What was happening inside was significant drug trafficking, prostitution, crimes of violence," Pullen said. "We seized a number of guns in there."
He indicated the investigation that led to the raid was ongoing, saying that authorities "actually have a few other operations pending" across the city.
President Donald Trump posted video of part of the raid to his Truth Social account and alleged some of those rounded up are murderers and other violent criminals. The DEA has not identified anyone accused of murder among those detained.
Trump characterized it as "a big raid last night on some of the worst people illegally in our country."
Bondi said on X that members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang, as well as of the Los Angeles-founded MS-13 gang, were detained in the raid. Both gangs have been repeatedly named as violent threats to the U.S. as the Trump administration forges ahead with its crackdown on illegal immigration.
Pullen said agents surveilling the venue spotted who they believe to be Tren de Agua and MS-13 members, as well as members of the motorcycle gang Hells Angeles there.
Bondi praised Trump for "achieving results" under his mission to "make America safe again."
Large-scale roundups of those suspected of being in the country illegally have long been concerning to advocates for immigrants, as well as for civil liberties lawyers.
The Colorado Rapid Response Network, which provides information on raids to immigrant communities, urged family members of those detained to remind them they may remain silent, do not have to sign any documents, and can request legal representation.
"We don't know all the facts," the group said on Facebook.
Partygoer Jose Dominguez said in an interview, part of which aired on NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver, that law enforcement put him and others in handcuffs until their presence in the United States could be determined as legal or not.
"Then they let me go," he said, "as if nothing happened."
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