Colorado Springs mayor expects more raids, arrests after nightclub bust
After law enforcement officers raided an “underground” nightclub early Sunday morning, Mayor Yemi Mobolade said he expects additional arrests in Colorado Springs’ future.
“I anticipate that there will be more arrests. I hope to see more raids happen in my city. This is not the first one,” Mobolade told national media outlet NewsNation Now.
More than 300 law enforcement officers from at least 10 agencies raided the property at 296 S. Academy Blvd., at the northwest corner of Academy Boulevard and Airport Road, on Sunday. They detained 114 people, including active-duty military members and individuals alleged to be in the U.S. illegally, officials said. On Monday, a social media post from the Drug Enforcement Administration showed a busload of 60 people who had been detained.
A DEA spokesperson told The Gazette Tuesday that the number of detainees now sits at 105. It is not known where the detainees are being held.
An unspecified quantity of drugs and weapons were found during the raid. Law enforcement officials said the property had been under investigation for months, and local law enforcement was informed of the coming raid weeks in advance.
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Steffan Tubbs, a spokesperson with the Rocky Mountain Field Division of the DEA, said more enforcement operations will be carried out nationwide. The DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division includes Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah.
“We’re not done,” Tubbs said, speaking of the region and not specifically to DEA-led operations in Colorado Springs. “You can expect more enforcement operations across the division and the country.”
Of President Donald Trump’s border policies, Mobolade told NewsNation Now he can “appreciate what the president and his team are doing.”
“The No. 1 role of government at all levels, whether it’s federal, state or local. … In my case, it’s the safety of our community. If you don’t have a safe community, you have nothing. I have often said that a great city is a safe city … a safe city is a great city,” Mobolade said.
Mobolade immigrated to the U.S. from Nigeria in 1996 and became a U.S. citizen in 2017.
In response to The Gazette’s request to interview the mayor about these statements, spokeswoman Vanessa Zink said Tuesday the mayor’s office had nothing to add.
During a trip to Washington in early March, Mobolade met with the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the liaisons between Trump’s White House staff and local governments nationwide, where he offered to have Colorado Springs serve as a testing ground for national policies.
Mobolade offered to provide feedback on issues like the local impacts of executive orders and possible funding freezes.
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Zink said local officials “have no reason to believe” his trip to D.C. and the Sunday raid were related.
“This operation was the result of a monthslong investigation by law enforcement agencies,” she said.
A few protesters who gathered outside the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday afternoon said they believe Mobolade visit and the raid are connected.
“He went out to D.C. in February and said, ‘What can we do to help you?’ and this was the answer,” Ed Sanders said. “He was trying to save Space Command in the Springs, which I don’t fault him for, but to do it by handling things illegally is against the Constitution.”
Protester Don Klingner said he isn’t sure what to think.
“What may be the most charitable interpretation is that he got caught flat-footed on this boat and simply accepted what DEA told him and the Sheriff’s Office told him,” Klingner said.
Trump has taken a hardline approach to immigration. During his campaign, the president promised to carry out the largest deportation program in U.S. history. The administration has arrested, detained, and deported immigrants of varying legal status since Trump took office in January.
Gazette’s Mackenzie Bodell contributed to this report.