At least a dozen active-duty military service members were caught up in a Drug Enforcement Administration raid at what officials said was an illicit Colorado nightclub where some of the troops were allegedly acting as security guards at the venue.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado Springs said an operation took place alongside the DEA and 10 other agencies at an establishment off Academy Boulevard early Sunday morning “to address a multitude of crimes,” including alleged drug and human trafficking, as well as prostitution.
The raid resulted in more than 100 migrants being taken into custody, and “several active-duty service members from local military installations” were also detained, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. Military.com reached out to multiple military sources, but it was not immediately clear whether any troops were arrested and charged following the raid.
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Jonathan Pullen, DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division special agent in charge, said during a press conference on Sunday that the building was “an underground, illegal nightclub,” adding that there was “significant” drug trafficking, prostitution and “crimes of violence.” The agency seized firearms as well, Pullen said.
“We had over a dozen active-duty service members in the club tonight, either as patrons or working as armed security,” Pullen told reporters.
Pullen added the Army Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, was one of the law enforcement agencies involved with the operation. “They’re going to work with us on what the next steps for those active-duty service members looks like,” he said.
Thomas Hamilton III, a spokesperson for CID, told Military.com in an emailed statement that they were aware of the raid and are “currently conducting a joint investigation” with the DEA and other law enforcement agencies. He did not answer a question about how many service members were swept up in the raid.
“As this is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide additional information at this time,” Hamilton said.
The DEA posted photos of the operation on social media stating, “200 people were inside — at least 114 in the U.S. illegally” and “only those here illegally or those with warrants were taken into custody,” clarifying most attendees were later released.
“I am grateful to the Rocky Mountain DEA, our federal partners, the Colorado Springs Police Department, and my hard-working deputies, who were on scene, assisting with this operation, ensuring everyone involved remained safe,” El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal said in the press release.
Officials at Fort Carson, which is located about 20 miles away from the nightclub, did not disclose how many service members were arrested or detained or if any were facing disciplinary action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
“We acknowledge that there were some Fort Carson service members present at the location during the operation,” a Fort Carson spokesperson, who spoke to Military.com anonymously to provide information from multiple sources, said. “Each person involved in this incident is presumed innocent until proven guilty. We will look at everyone’s situation on a case-by-case basis.”
Officials from Space Base Delta 1 told Military.com that they were not aware of any active-duty service members from the nearby Peterson or Schriever Space Force bases who were involved in the raid.
Additionally, “there were no U.S. Air Force Academy personnel involved,” the school told Military.com in an unsigned email.
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