DA TARGETS BAR AS NUISANCE

The Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office moved Monday to shut down
the Drift Inn Lounge on South Coors as a public nuisance while seven
people, including bar owner Dominic Padilla, were indicted on drug and
other charges.

The South Valley lounge is the latest business to be targeted by outgoing
District Attorney Jeff Romero as a danger to the public's health, safety
and welfare.

Among the establishments shut down during Romero's administration are the
Rose Villa Motel, the Yucca Lounge, Trade Winds Motel, Sand and Sage Motel
and the Five Points Dance Hall.

The nuisance-abatement suit against the Drift Inn Lounge at 1119 Coors SW
was filed late Monday by Deputy District Attorney Mark L. Drebing.

It seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions against Padilla, named as
individual owner, and the corporate owner, DD-P Inc., saying that sheriff's
deputies have been called to the lounge no fewer than 65 times in two
years. Attempts to reach Padilla were unsuccessful Monday.

The police calls involved automobile thefts, disturbances and reports of
narcotics trafficking and possession, the complaint alleges.

The complaint also alleges that Reliant Protective Services Inc., which the
lounge hired as a security firm, responded to more than 30 reports of
criminal activity between May 2, 1999, and Sept. 3, 2000.

Reliant employees witnessed drug dealing, prostitution, after-hours alcohol
sales, as well as drunken patrons and employees, including bartenders, as
"commonplace" activities, "occurring almost every weekend," according to
the suit.

When Reliant workers tried to tell Padilla about the violations, he told
them it was "not their concern" and that they shouldn't tell police, the
suit alleges.

The complaint also spells out in detail the alleged criminal activities
turned up in an undercover DEA task force operation at the lounge last
summer that led to the indictments of seven people, including Padilla, late
Friday.

Padilla, 47, was indicted by a grand jury on one count each of
racketeering, trafficking cocaine by distribution, trafficking by
possession with intent to distribute, conspiracy to traffic cocaine and
promoting prostitution.

The charges stem from criminal acts allegedly committed between February
1999 and September 2000 and could add up to a total of 31 1/3 years in
prison if Padilla is convicted.

Six other people, including a 68-year-old former DEA agent who worked at
the bar, were indicted Friday on a variety of drug charges stemming from an
undercover narcotics operation conducted last summer.

Joe Baca, identified in the civil complaint as a former agent of the Drug
Enforcement Agency, was charged with one count each of trafficking cocaine
and conspiracy to traffic.

Manuela Pules, 34, identified in the civil complaint as a bartender, also
was charged with one count each of trafficking and conspiracy.

The same charges were brought against Augustine Quinones, 25, who works as
a Drift Inn security guard, according to the civil suit.

Alberto Mendoza, 49, also identified in the civil action as a security
guard, was indicted on seven counts of trafficking by distribution, one
count of trafficking by possession with intent to distribute and one count
of conspiracy to traffic.

Arturo Saldana, 45, identified as the manager of the lounge's main bar, was
charged with two counts of trafficking and one count of conspiracy to traffic.

Juan Lira-Ortega, 58, whose connection to the lounge wasn't clear from
court documents filed Monday, was indicted on a single count of trafficking
cocaine by possession with intent to distribute.