After a months-long investigation, nearly 50 people were detained Sunday morning after federal drug and immigration agents raided a makeshift nightclub in Adams County, federal officials said.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials said that 41 of the 49 people inside the building at the time of the raid were undocumented immigrants, some associated with the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
The 41 people living in Colorado illegally were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, federal officials said.
Federal officials said on social media that the raid, which happened in the 6600 block of Federal Boulevard, was designed to target drug trafficking and the TdA gang.
The operation started around 9 p.m. Saturday and agents executed federal search warrants for the building around 5 a.m., DEA spokesperson Steffan Tubbs said.
How many people arrested Sunday were connected to the TdA gang is unclear, but DEA officials said the number was in the dozens.
A large group had been gathering to party inside the vacant warehouse for several months, according to a DEA news release. Suspected TdA gang members posted invitations to the Saturday night party on social media.
One video posted by DEA officials on X shows federal agents restraining and lining people up outside of a warehouse. A second video shows a nondescript, white bus with no labels taking the group away to a detention facility.
DEA officials also said weapons, cash and drugs — including cocaine, crack cocaine and pink cocaine, also known as “tusi” — were seized from the warehouse.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.
Originally Published:
