The Daily Populous Monday April 28th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by cnn.com and submitted by AudibleNod

More than 100 immigrants, allegedly in the country illegally, were detained in Colorado Springs after an overnight raid at what authorities described as an underground nightclub in a strip mall.

Over a dozen active-duty military members were also at the club during the raid, and federal officials said some were working at the illicit operation.

DEA special agents announced their presence prior to entering the nightclub, the Rocky Mountain Field Division said on X. “200 people were inside – at least 114 in the US illegally. In addition, more than a dozen active duty military were patrons or security guards,” it said.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi posted on X that two people had been arrested on outstanding warrants during the raid.

“Trump’s directive to make America safe again is achieving results!” she posted.

“What was happening inside was significant drug trafficking, prostitution, crimes of violence,” DEA Rocky Mountain Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan C. Pullen said at a news conference Sunday morning. “We seized a number of guns in there. We had active-duty service members who were running security at the club and involved in some of these crimes.

Drugs found at the underground club included cocaine and so-called pink cocaine, also known as “tusi,” Pullen said.

Those believed to be in the US illegally were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Pullen said, while the active-duty service members were handed over to the US Army Criminal Investigation Division.

A spokesperson for Army Criminal Investigations Division told CNN that it was conducting a joint investigation with the DEA, which was the lead agency. “As this is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide additional information at this time,” the spokesperson said.

President Donald Trump praised the raid, saying on TruthSocial it had targeted some of the worst people in the US, whom he alleged judges are reluctant to deport.

Above a video of agents entering the building, the President wrote: “A big Raid last night on some of the worst people illegally in our Country — Drug Dealers, Murderers, and other Violent Criminals, of all shapes and sizes, and Judges don’t want to send them back to where they came from. If we don’t win this battle at the Supreme Court, our Country, as we know it, is FINISHED! It will be a Crime ridden MESS. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

The Trump administration’s mass deportation program has been facing legal challenges.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court paused the deportation of immigrants potentially subject to the Alien Enemies Act.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department has repeatedly asserted it will investigate any local officials who do not assist federal authorities with immigration matters.

Last week it charged a Milwaukee County Circuit Judge with allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest, in what her peer described as “a message to chill the judiciary.”

CNN has reached out to ICE for more details on the Colorado Springs raid.

Video posted online by the DEA Sunday morning showed federal officers breaking a large front window of a nondescript building as people fled through the door into the night, only to be stopped by additional armed federal agents. Some of those stopped were wearing dresses and outfits suitable for a nightclub.

Other DEA video shows agents addressing occupants from outside the building: “This is the police with a search warrant demanding entry. Exit the front door one at a time with nothing in your hands, held high above your head.” The message was followed by instructions in Spanish.

Hundreds of agents across over 10 federal agencies participated in the raid, Pullen said.

The nightclub had been under surveillance by the DEA and partner agencies for “a number of months,” and authorities documented drug trafficking, prostitution, and the presence of members from the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and the Hells Angels, according to Pullen.

“I don’t have the information about whether those members were there tonight, but we’re still working through a lot of that, because we have so many people in custody,” Pullen said.

“Colorado Springs is waking up to a safer city this Sunday morning,” he said.

Strawbuddy on April 28th, 2025 at 00:21 UTC »

“Sir they’ve found the USAF Officer’s Lounge”

twentyafterfour on April 28th, 2025 at 00:15 UTC »

Maybe it's just me, but I don't trust the current government's judgement on identifying gang members. For example, members of Tren de Aragua don't have gang identifying tattoos according to experts and yet they said a gay barber with two crown tattoos on his wrists, with mom and dad written beneath them, was a terrorist. They then sent him away for the rest of his life to a foreign dictator's slave labor camp. It just doesn't really add up.

dankysco on April 27th, 2025 at 21:34 UTC »

According to the article, TdA, MS-13, AND the Hells Angels all go illegal night clubbing together. Maybe we can all learn something about tolerance and cooperation.

“authorities documented drug trafficking, prostitution, and the presence of members from the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and the Hells Angels, according to Pullen [head of Rocky Mountain DEA.]”