COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The owner of a Colorado Springs building that was the site of a federal raid Sunday morning told the Scripps News Group he had no idea an underground nightclub was operating on his property.
“I've never even seen a lot of trash in the parking lot to even suspect that anything like an after-hours nightclub is going on. So, it's pretty shocking,” Mike Moon, the owner of the property, told Denver7 Investigates Chief Investigative Reporter Tony Kovaleski.
Moon owns the property, located at 296 S. Academy Boulevard, that the Drug Enforcement Administration said was being used as an illegal nightclub linked to drug trafficking, gang activity, prostitution and violence.
More than 300 law enforcement officers from at least 10 federal agencies raided the property early Sunday morning. They detained more than 100 people, including active-duty military members and individuals in the U.S. illegally.
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DEA raids underground nightclub in Colorado; over 100 people detained
The DEA said cocaine, meth, and pink cocaine were seized during the early morning raid, and two people were arrested on existing warrants.
Moon said the space is being rented out and is usually used for birthdays, weddings and quinceaneras. He said the property has strict lease terms and alcohol is not allowed to be served.
“It's written in their lease. They're not allowed to do any illegal activity,” he said.
Moon said the lease on the property is about to expire, and the space's operators were told to leave by the end of the month.
“We're set to do a renovation conversion project on this property, so I've been working on that for 18 months. They were supposed to be out of here by the end of this month,” Moon said.
Moon told Kovaleski that he was dumbfounded after learning that the current leaseholders allowed this alleged illegal activity.
“It's pretty shocking, considering our political environment and all the news that's happening around the country that they thought that this was even a wise idea to do something illegal like this,” he said.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen said that many of those detained in the raid will face federal immigration charges. Still, he said it is unlikely they will be able to file drug charges because of the difficulty in proving possession during the bust.
