Denver Post | Monday, April 28, 2025 
More than 100 detained in Colorado Springs after federal agents raid underground nightclub

Colorado Springs — More than 100 undocumented immigrants were detained by federal agents in Colorado Springs early Sunday morning during a raid of an illegal, underground nightclub, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Between 200 and 300 people were inside the club, and 114 of them were living in Colorado illegally, said Steffan Tubbs, a spokesman for the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division. More than a dozen active duty military members were also inside the club as patrons or security guards, he said. The raid, which had reportedly been in development for months, started at about 3:45 a.m. Sunday at 296 South Academy Blvd. in Colorado Springs, the state’s second-largest city and about 70 miles south of Denver. Videos posted by the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division on social media showed federal agents announcing their presence and ordering people out of the building. “Occupants of 296 South Academy, this is the police with a search warrant demanding entry,” one agent can be heard saying in the video. “Exit the front door one at a time with nothing in your hands, held high above your head. Listen to the commands of the officers on site.” He then repeated the orders in Spanish. Other videos from the agency showed hundreds of patrons being escorted out of the nightclub with their hands raised or fleeing the building after federal agents broke a window. Later, people huddled outside the building as agents processed the patrons and checked their citizenship statuses before the 114 detainees were lined up in front of buses headed for immigration facilities. DEA officials said they faced “likely eventual deportation.” – Read more