Houston Police Department

February 6, 2005 -- On February 6, 2005, the Houston Police Department's Vice Division and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a search and arrest warrant at the Covia Club, located at 3906 Westholm. The owner, Abdullah Ben Hadj, was promoting the club on his web site as a "private fantasy club-house and couples retreat." During an extensive joint investigation, undercover officers and agents purchased cocaine from the owner and several employees of the unlicensed alcohol establishment. Officers and agents were also looking into the possibility the club was involved in international money laundering.

The raid resulted in the arrest of seventeen people for delivery of controlled substance, operating, selling and serving alcoholic beverages without a permit, public intoxication and outstanding warrants. Mr. Hadj is charged with Delivery of Controlled Substance. He is currently on felony probation for possession of cocaine, which was found on him when arrested during a 2003 vice raid for operating the club without the required Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission licenses.

Also named and arrested in the warrants were Dean Joseph Okelly-Hadj, middle-eastern male 24, for Selling Liquor without a License and Jaime Carranza, Hispanic male, 25, for Delivery of Controlled Substance.

Although the Covia Club investigation was based upon a citizen's complaint, the Vice Division is looking at several other clubs city-wide that operate unlawfully without permits and cater to after-hours drinking when legitimate clubs are required to close. The law prohibits the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages after 2:00 a.m.

For additional information, please contact the HPD Public Affairs Division at 713-308-3200.