Federal narcotics agents arrested roughly 50 people staying in the country unlawfully during a drug trafficking raid on Sunday in Adams County, according to officials.

Out of 49 arrested inside a warehouse, 41 were illegally residing in the U.S., according to drug enforcement and immigration officials. Many of them are affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, officials added.

The suspects are in DEA and ICE custody, officials said.

The gang’s activities have been in the news spotlight for several months following reports its members commandeered several apartment complexes in Aurora. That, in turn, attracted the attention of President Donald Trump, who, during the campaign, vowed to go after the gang in what he dubbed “Operation Aurora.”

DEA’s investigation in Adams County involved 100 local and federal investigators.

“We have been investigating them for several months,” DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen told The Denver Gazette. “This morning, we executed a federal search warrant on this call.”

Pullen said their target was a warehouse, which they raided around 5 a.m. after obtaining warrant. 

“There’s been quite a lot of activity that’s happened,” Pullen said of the investigation leading into the raid.

The Drug Enforcement Administration Rocky Mountain Division, along with metro Denver law enforcement agencies and the ATF, arrived at a “makeshift nightclub” near the 6600 block of Federal Boulevard in Adams County, where officers seized illicit drugs, weapons, and cash, according to DEA officials.

A DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division spokesperson said most were arrested on the top floor of a two-story building.

Pullen added authorities found “pink cocaine,” or known as “tusi,” a mixture of psychoactive substances, such as cocaine, ketamine, and methamphetamines.

“This was invite-only,” officials said on X. “Dozens connected to the Tren de Aragua gang were there.”

“You got to know who’s who to get in this place,” Pullen said. “You have a location where there is a ‘special event.’ You advertise it on social media, and then you’re only inviting your crew, but then you’re able to hype it up your way. That’s what they’re doing here.”

DEA’s investigation remains ongoing.

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to crack down on TdA and conduct a mass deportation campaign beginning in Colorado’s third-largest city.

The Denver metro area has been in the throes of a crisis that began two years ago, when about 90 immigrants — mostly from South and Central America — were dropped off downtown and left to wander in the cold. Since then, nearly 43,000 immigrants, many of whom crossed the border illegally, have arrived in Denver.

Early in the crisis, Denver officials decided to assume the responsibility to respond to the influx. To date, those costs have commutatively reached more than $80 million. While Denver has received state and federal reimbursements, the majority of those costs have been borne by Denver taxpayers.

Plane, train and bus tickets purchased by the city for immigrants suggest about half have stayed in the Denver metro region. That translates to roughly 21,500 people, or a city about the size of Golden.

TdA, the transnational Venezuelan gang, sought to entrench its tentacles in metro Denver. Federal authorities have said gang members wanted to make Denver their headquarters.

The gang has a diverse criminal portfolio that includes drug and human trafficking — particularly immigrant women and girls — kidnapping, extortion and money laundering.

Aurora police recently arrested several gang members they believe were involved in the kidnapping and torture of a Venezuelan couple on the property.

To help combat the problem, city officials — who initially denied that TdA had taken over three apartment complexes and terrorized residents — have adopted a strategy of boarding up properties under the gang’s control.

In August, city officials shut down up Aspen Grove — a 99-unit apartment complex owned by CBZ Management — citing a litany of health and safety violations that included rodent infestations, sewage backups and trash pileups.

Emails obtained by The Denver Gazette, however, revealed officials with CBZ Management believed its closure was necessary to thwart the Venezuelan gang.

Its closure left about 300 residents homeless.

On Friday, Aurora officials posted closure notices at The Edge at Lowry apartment complex, notifying tenants that they must vacate the complex as soon as possible and no later than 8 a.m. Feb. 18. 

The posted notices are the city’s next steps in closing the five remaining buildings that CBZ Management controls at The Edge at Lowry following a court decision to shut the apartment complex, where, officials now acknowledged, TdA operated.

In a statement, Pullen concluded: “DEA’s global mission is to keep the nation safe from the scourge of drug trafficking, and we will fight this battle every day on behalf of the people of Colorado and our country.”