DENVER - Just one day after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) assisted in a high-profile raid in Adams County, two people in southeast Denver were taken into custody by the administration on charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering. The DEA told FOX31 that they do not believe that the arrested individuals are connected in any way to yesterday’s raid, but investigations are still ongoing.
The raid on Sunday morning was conducted by the DEA at a “makeshift nightclub” connected to a Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua. Drugs, cash, and weapons were seized at the party by the DEA, Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Forty-nine people in attendance were detained. Forty-one of those 49 people are allegedly illegal immigrants and have been taken into custody by ICE.
Immigration advocate Jennifer Piper, program director of the Colorado Office of American Friends Service Committee (COAFSC), told Denver7 that it’s unusual to have ICE present at a DEA investigation or arrest site. “It’s suspicious that all of the people were turned over into ICE custody instead of into the Federal Marshals Custody,” Piper said.
The DEA said that Sunday morning’s raid came as part of a months-long investigation on Tren de Aragua.
