The state and federal inspection of a Little Rock nightclub last weekend that resulted in a dozen people arrested on immigration charges was based in part on suspicions of human trafficking, the Police Department said.
Two Little Rock detectives on site for the "possibility of human trafficking" left without stepping inside Club Trois, a Hispanic nightclub at 4314 Asher Ave., after learning that there was no evidence of the crime, officer Steve Moore said.
The disclosure offers an explanation for why state alcohol regulators took immigration authorities along for the inspection. That inspection raised questions, fear and frustration among the Hispanic community. Still, why human trafficking was suspected at Club Trois has not been divulged.
"I don't know where that would come from," said Tracy Johnson, the club's owner. "That's just bogus. Human trafficking -- that's crazy. That made absolutely no sense."
Witnesses have said the doors were barricaded during the inspection and everyone inside was required to show identification -- effectively a "broad sweep" that approaches the "realm of people being targeted because of their race," said Mireya Reith, an immigrants' rights advocate.
Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control requested assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, because of the nature of tips it received, officials have said.
[U.S. immigration: Data visualization of selected immigration statistics, U.S. border map]
Ten of the 12 people detained on immigration charges did not have serious criminal histories, according to Juan Carlos Hernandez, a Little Rock attorney who spoke with an official at the local immigration enforcement office.
Casey Bryant, an immigration attorney representing two of the people arrested over the weekend, said her clients have "zero criminal history." One is about 40 years old, and the other is in his mid-20s, she said. They are being held at an immigration jail in Jena, La.
"I feel like it's pretty obvious that if the local law enforcement didn't feel legitimated in entering the club because what they thought to be human trafficking wasn't something they felt was occurring, then there was really no justifiable reason for the Department of Homeland Security to be there checking IDs," Bryant said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox has said Homeland Security Investigations -- which focuses on an array of crimes rather than day-to-day immigration enforcement -- was called in to assist an ongoing investigation.
"I don't dispute the information you've obtained, but I cannot formally confirm it either," Cox said by email when provided the Police Department's account of events.
Boyce Hamlet, director of Alcoholic Beverage Control's enforcement division, declined to comment.
"It would not be appropriate for us to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation or to comment on the details of any ongoing case," Hamlet said by email.
Alcoholic Beverage Control can drop in unannounced at bars and nightclubs to make sure they are complying with the terms of their permits, not serving to minors and following other laws. Agents sometimes partner with other law enforcement agencies, such as police, to investigate complaints but rarely loop in federal immigration agents, a spokesman has said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities "conducted field interviews with some persons" at Club Trois, "just as any other law enforcement agency may legitimately do in the course of an ongoing criminal investigation," Cox said.
"In the course of that investigatory activity some unlawfully present foreign nationals were encountered; however, [Homeland Security Investigations'] presence there was in the course of a criminal investigation not an immigration enforcement action, although once those persons in violation of federal immigration law were discovered the agency will not turn a blind eye to that," Cox said.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has been informed about the investigation, said Alcoholic Beverage Control, often referred to as ABC, made the "right call" to include Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
"I have been briefed by our ABC Enforcement division with regard to the recent investigation and operation at one or more Little Rock nightclubs, which included multiple state and federal law enforcement agencies," Hutchinson said in an emailed statement. "ICE, which has the expertise needed for the operation, was included as a participating agency.
"I applaud the cooperation between ABC Enforcement and ICE. It was the right call, and it demonstrates the kind of partnership that should exist between state and federal agencies."
Alcoholic Beverage Control agents told Johnson during the inspection that it was prompted by complaints about minors in Club Trois and Oasis Cantina, a Hispanic nightclub on Geyer Springs Road, according to a typed agency report obtained Thursday.
Agents discovered a 19-year-old possessing an alcoholic beverage inside Trois, the report says. The bar is accused of furnishing alcohol to a minor and allowing minors in the club. Suspected marijuana and a gun were found in a vehicle in the nightclub's parking lot, the report says.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control agency also told Johnson that Club Trois was not being shut down and that he could continue operating, the report says.
Little Rock detectives were on site only for a "short time," Moore said. They were also on standby in case of minors being in possession of alcohol, he said.
"[Homeland Security Investigations] said there was a possibility that [human trafficking] was going on at that club," Moore said. "That's why we were there. ... [Detectives] left shortly after determining they weren't needed."
Questions about the last time authorities inspected Oasis Cantina, which was mentioned in the Club Trois report, were not immediately answered.
A year ago, in July 2017, an undercover Alcoholic Beverage Control investigation of Oasis Cantina discovered three minors inside the bar, according to a typed agency report obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The minors, whose ages and photographs were redacted, were released to a family member, the report says.
Oasis Cantina, whose permitted operator was Atilio Garcia, was accused of allowing minors in the club, failure to keep a membership book and operating after hours.
Two months later, in September 2017, off-duty police officers working security at the bar accused the club of overserving an intoxicated man and failing to be a good neighbor because of a "scuffle" between the man and one of the officers outside the club.
All five violations were upheld during a December hearing, and Oasis Cantina was fined $2,650, agency records show.
The weekend investigation at Club Trois at 4314 Asher Ave. by state and federal authorities has raised questions, fear and frustration in the Hispanic community.
Metro on 07/27/2018