Federal agents found “pink cocaine” — a deadly narcotics cocktail favored by migrant drug peddlers— during a raid on a Colorado underground nightclub where more than 100 illegal aliens were busted, authorities said.
The major operation in Colorado Springs involving around 300 agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, other federal agencies and the local sheriff’s office also uncovered a number of weapons and other drugs.
“As you may suspect, when the cops showed up at the door, most of the drugs hit the floor,” DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen told FOX31.
“We did find cocaine, looks like some pink cocaine,” he added.
It is the first time pink cocaine, also known as Tusi, has been found in Colorado, the DEA said.
The drug usually contains no actual cocaine but is rather a potentially deadly cocktail usually made up of ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine and caffeine — sometimes with lethal fentanyl mixed in.
“It’s kind of a counterfeit version of what a drug that was first created in the ’70s, and it’s a whole family of drugs called 2C compounds,” Robert Valuck, the director of the Center for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention at CU Anschutz, told KDVR.
The Venezuelan migrant gang Tren de Aragua has been busted for trafficking the drug in the US, including in New York City migrant shelters.
Pink cocaine is seen as an emerging threat across the US by many experts.
“I call it a Russian roulette powder — you really don’t know what you’re getting,” Valuck said.
“It could have psilocybin in it or fentanyl in it. It can kill you. It could just be worthless and be a total waste of your time, money and effort because all it is is lactose. And sometimes people put caffeine powder in it because it’s weak and cheap and it makes people think they bought something special.”
The underground nightclub raided by authorities only operated from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. on weekends, according to the DEA, which had undercover operatives acting as club patrons and security on the night of the raid.
“I’ve had agents in there on multiple occasions, and they’ve witnessed drug trafficking. We’ve actually purchased drugs in this club undercover,” Pullen said. “They’ve witnessed prostitution taking place.”
Describing the club as “a den of iniquity,” he said its operators have held pop-ups in multiple locations across Colorado Springs.
After numerous 911 calls reported shootings, drug trafficking and overdoses at the venue, the club came under surveillance.
“There was a person who overdosed at this club a few weeks ago. They didn’t want to call the cops there, so somebody drove him down the street about a mile, dumped him out, then they called 911,” Pullen said.
The bust comes as Colorado Springs’ mayor called for more DEA raids in his city to target dangerous criminals.
“I anticipate that there will be more arrests. I hope to see more raids happen in my city. This is not the first one,” Independent Yemi Mobolade told NewsNation Now.
“I can actually appreciate what the president and his team are doing,” said Mobolade, a Nigerian-born politician and the first immigrant mayor of Colorado Springs.
“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,” the mayor said.
