CENTENNIAL, Colo. — After four days of raids, resulting in the arrest of more than 50 people, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Rocky Mountain Field Division told Denver7 Investigates there's more to come.
“Listen, our foot is firmly on the gas. We have more work to do, and we're not done yet,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen. “I think we're making the city of Denver a safer place by taking the most serious drug and violent offenders off the streets.”
Over the past 100 hours, the DEA has conducted six operations around the Denver metro area, beginning early Sunday morning in Adams County where 49 people were detained, including 41 who were in the U.S. illegally and many with ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).
Two more undocumented immigrants with ties to Mexican cartels were arrested during a Monday raid in southeast Denver. DEA agents also seized more than 130,000 fentanyl pills during that operation.
The DEA conducted four more raids at several locations Tuesday night into Wednesday, resulting in at least two people — one with suspected TdA ties and the other with connections to a Mexican drug cartel — being taken into custody.
“I think if you look at the bulk of the work, the guns that were taken off the street, 130,000 fentanyl pills, there's no question these are serious criminals,” Pullen said.
Pullen also noted that this week’s raids were aided by DEA agents stationed in other countries, including Peru, who came to the Denver area to assist with the operations. He said these operations had been in the works for some time but noted a renewed sense of urgency under the Trump administration.
“We've been instructed to work harder. And not just harder but to work together,” Pullen said. “I think the bar is different. We're not looking at quotas on drugs, money or guns. What we’re working to do is keep the citizens of Colorado safe, and that's what our bar is, that's what our focus is, taking out criminal organizations who are here in the state selling drugs, moving weapons and human trafficking.”
