More than 300 law enforcement officers, both federal and local, were assisting Rocky Mountain Drug Enforcement Agency Operation early Sunday morning in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
According to the DEA, over 100 people in the country illegally were detained at what they say is an underground nightclub. Drugs and weapons were also seized.
The DEA says that in the nightclub, they found pink cocaine, evidence of prostitution, and multiple firearms. The DEA estimates there were around 200 people inside the nightclub at the time of the raid, including more than a dozen U.S. active-duty servicemembers.
Special Agent in Charge, Jonathan Pullen, with DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division said those servicemembers were either patrons or working as armed security guards at the underground nightclub. Pullen also said that the Army Criminal Investigation Division is working with DEA.
According to a crew on the scene, many different police cruisers, white vans, and armored vehicles were seen.
EPSO is currently assisting our federal partners at the DEA. Media inquiries will be addressed by the DEA PIO on scene. https://t.co/BBWEVM43XJ
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Sunday’s operation is the latest in the DEA’s crackdown this year. As the agency conducted four Denver-area operations on Jan. 29, special agent in charge David Olesky said an uptick in enforcement is due to a “renewed sense of purpose” at the agency under the Trump administration.
“We’re getting absolutely all the resources that we need not only at the federal level but at the local level as well,” he said at the time. “And when it comes to immigration, that is just one of the tools in the toolbox that we’re going to be able to use to remove those violent criminals and drug traffickers from the communities.”
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Derek Maltz, who stepped into the role of acting administrator of the DEA shortly after President Trump’s inauguration, told Scripps News Investigates that Colorado is “ground zero” for violent criminals in the U.S. and that the state is home to the “command and control” of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
He said he believes criminals have taken advantage of vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the state, and that the border policies of recent years have been too open and allowed for too many people to cross the U.S. border unaccounted for.
“We love immigration. It makes this country great. Diversity is critical to the success of America. But we have to have a system," Maltz said.
This story was originally published by Aidan Hulting with the Scripps News Group in Colorado Springs.
