After police conducted a raid on a Colorado nightclub in the early morning hours, over 100 illegal immigrants were arrested in a dramatic operation.
The Drug Enforcement Agency’s Rocky Mountain Division spearheaded a joint operation with local law enforcement and federal agents at 3 am on a Sunday.
As people attending the party rushed out of the venue, they were met by numerous armed personnel, creating a chaotic scene that left even elegantly dressed women in shock.
Another woman, who was on the phone at the time, dropped to the ground while cops pointed guns in her direction after bashing in the door of the illicit establishment.
Another man ran out of the nightclub, and upon seeing the officers he desperately put both arms in the air and dropped to his knees. Another was seen on video dropping his bottle of beer on the ground before listening to cops’ instructions.
Sirens glared in the background as officers shouted for people to get on the ground – while some of the revelers screamed and attempted to run away from the situation.
The operation itself was part of a probe into drug trafficking, prostitution and crimes of violence taking place in the club, the DEA added.
Authorities made their way to an underground nightclub in Colorado Springs – about an hour away from Aurora, where Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua is based.
Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and Hell’s Angels gang members are known to frequent the underground club. It is unclear how many members were there at the time of the raid, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen said.
More than a dozen active duty service members were also in the building, some as patrons and others working security. The United States Army Criminal Investigation Division is now a part of the investigation into those individuals, Pullen said.
Many of those detained were not in the country legally and taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. Drugs and weapons were also seized during the operation, the agency said.
Pink cocaine, also known as ‘tusi,’ was among the drugs found, Pullin said. At least a dozen small packages of drugs were found as investigators are testing them to identify the substances.
‘Colorado Springs is waking up to a safer city this Sunday morning,’ Pullen said.
Dramatic video revealed the massive bust operation – including the moment a slew of officers surrounded the building before one of them smashed through a glass window.
Officers were seen with their guns out as they instructed people to put their hands up and surrender.
Pullen said many of those detained will face federal immigration charges, while some were arrested with outstanding warrants.
It is unlikely they will face drug charges because it was hard to prove possession during the raid, he added.
This comes just after ICE agents arrested nearly 800 illegal immigrants after launching a statewide crackdown in Florida.
Operation Tidal Wave – a joint effort by ICE agents, Homeland Security and local law enforcement – resulted in officers arresting 780 migrants.
As part of the massive sweep, 275 people were arrested with final orders of removal, meaning a court has mandated that they leave the country already.
One of those busted was Jose Sanchez Reyes, a Colombian immigrant who entered the US illegally after being convicted of homicide in his home nation, according to Fox.
Rafael Juarex Cabrera, a Guatemalan immigrant and alleged MS-13 member, was also caught. He had illegally reentered the US three times, officials said.
Russian immigrant Savva Klishchevskii was also detained for an Interpol Red Notice out of Russia for vehicular manslaughter.
Officials said Honduran Aron Isaak Morazan-Izaguirre was taken in. He is a suspected member of the 18th Street Gang and had illegally re-entered the US twice.
ICE had used their 287(g) authority which allows for state and local law enforcement to be deputized and to arrest those in the US illegally.
The Trump administration has sought to bring in local authorities to help in their immigration operations to speed up deportations.
‘This is one of the first large-scale missions we’ve done like this ever,’ ICE director Todd Lyons told ABC News.
‘We brought a “whole the government” approach with cooperative jurisdictions that want to help ICE secure communities in neighborhoods and remove public safety threats from our neighborhoods.’
