Federal agents captured 18 immigrants facing deportation during their April 27 raid on an unlicensed Colorado Springs nightclub, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
An ICE spokesperson wrote in an email Friday that the agency detained 104 people who were illegally present in the country during the raid, including immigrants from Guatemala, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua, Chile and Honduras.
The Drug Enforcement Agency initially reported 114 had been taken into federal custody. When asked about the discrepancy, the spokesperson wrote that he could only confirm how many people ICE arrested.
Among the 104, 18 already had been ordered to leave the United States, and 14 had previously been charged with or convicted of crimes, including a suspected Sinaloa Cartel member and a suspected drug distributor for the group. Others had been previously convicted of DUI, drug crimes and other charges, the spokesperson wrote.
A dozen firearms as well as cocaine and methamphetamine were seized during the raid on the clandestine club, which for months had prompted 911 calls from neighbors concerned about shootings and drug trafficking in the area, Jonathan Pullen, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division, told NewsNation last month.
The ICE spokesperson wrote Friday the 86 detainees who are not subject to a final order of removal are being held by ICE pending immigration proceedings.
At least two other people were arrested at the time by Colorado Springs police, and Pullen said 17 members of the military were found inside of the club. The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the servicemembers’ involvement along with the DEA.
One Fort Carson soldier, Staff Sgt. Juan Gabriel Orona-Rodriguez, was arrested April 30 on suspicion that he dealt cocaine and offered to sell illegal weapons to an undocumented immigrant while working security at the club.
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Originally Published: May 9, 2025 at 11:18 AM MDT
