ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County investigators are working to track down at least one drug dealer and as many as 30 strippers after busting an illegal strip club operation late Thursday night.
The Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation found out through a Crimeline tip that the operation was running out of Los Compaz Bar and Grille on Oak Ridge Road.
In video released by authorities, some of the dancers were working on top of the bar and were fully nude.
Investigators said there were at least 30 strippers working there at all hours of the night into the early morning hours.
“It was a full alcohol and a full strip nudity club that opened throughout the night, way past the 2 a.m. hour that most bars are open,” said Lt. Mike Gibson with the MBI.
WFTV found out the owner, Steven Gonzalez, has no liquor license and was arrested during the bust.
He was caught with 15 grams of cocaine and a 9-mm handgun in his car, according to investigators.
Authorities said the business would also serve as a hub for open drug deals. Undercover officers said cocaine, marijuana and heroin were being sold.
“We did buy heroin on one occasion, but primarily the open drug sales were marijuana and cocaine,” Gibson said. “They would probably put 50 or 60 people inside the club. Cars would be jam packed throughout the parking lot.”
Investigators are looking for other dealers who would work inside, and the women who kept customers packing the business every weekend.
“That atmosphere, the heavy drug sales, the illegal alcohol sales, the illegal strip club—that bring an element that is very dangerous to the community,” Gibson said. “Drug dealers who we have identified will be arrested in the future.”
Gonzalez is facing multiple drug charges, including felony cocaine possession with intent to sell.
Since the illegal business was operating 500 feet from a high school, he could end up facing additional charges.
WFTV
