The DEA says 114 immigrants in the U.S. illegally were arrested at a Colorado nightclub
The Drug Enforcement Administration says a raid carried out with other law enforcement agencies in Colorado Springs on Sunday led to the capture of more than 100 immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.
The DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division said in a post on X that 114 immigrants were arrested and placed “on buses for processing and likely eventual deportation.”
The DEA said in a separate post earlier in the day that the “multi-agency enforcement operation” at an “underground nightclub” early on Sunday had also resulted in the seizure of drugs and weapons.
The raid appears to be one of the largest single-day arrests of people without legal status since Trump was inaugurated in January, with a promise to conduct mass deportations.
Video posted online by the DEA showed an agent bashing through a glass window on the front of the building before people began streaming out of the front door, where law enforcement authorities were waiting. Officers, some of whom had guns drawn, shouted at the patrons to stop and get down. Many put their hands up or got on the ground.
The agency said it gave multiple warnings urging people inside to come out before the raid. More than 200 people were in the club, authorities said, and arrests began around 3:45 a.m. local time.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the club was “frequented by Tda and MS-13 terrorists.” That is likely a reference to Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang that has been a target of Trump administration deportations in the U.S.
NPR could not immediately verify the legal status of those arrested, and whether there’s any evidence of gang membership.
Bondi said two people were also arrested on existing warrants, and that authorities seized “cocaine, meth, and pink cocaine.”
In a video posted online by Denver7 News, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen said “what was happening inside was significant drug trafficking, prostitution, crimes of violence — we seized a number of guns in there.”
Pullen added that there were over a dozen active duty service members in the club either as patrons or working as armed security guards.
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