Club closed after raid
 

Arrests made after complaints about bar, sex acts
A southwest Houston club that billed itself as a "private lifestyle clubhouse for adventurous adults" was closed Monday after its owner, manager and more than a dozen employees and patrons were arrested during a weekend raid.
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The Covia Club, at 3906 Westholme, was raided early Sunday by Houston police and agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau, said Capt. Steve Jett of the Houston Police Department's vice division.

Jett said authorities had been investigating the club for several months after complaints that the club's unlicensed bar remained open all night and that sex acts took place inside.
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Jett said undercover officers sent into the club purchased cocaine on several occasions from club employees and eventually from the club's owner, Abdullah Ben Hadj, 59.


Prior drug charge
Hadj, who is on probation for possession of a controlled substance, was charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance in the raid.

The prior drug charge stemmed from cocaine Hadj had during a 2003 raid at the club, Jett said.

Hadj was being held without bail Monday on the delivery charge and is set to appear today in state District Court.

Hadj's 24-year-old son, Dean Joseph Okelly-Hadj, was charged with selling liquor without a license. Jett said Okelly-Hadj was the manager of the Covia Club.

Hadj also operates the Lexa Club and Tha Vyper Rume at 3901 Dunvale, according to county records.

Another 15 people, about a dozen of them club employees, were arrested on charges of delivery of controlled substance, selling or serving liquor without a license and public intoxication and for outstanding warrants, Jett said.

A Web site operated by the Covia Club was offline Monday, but club information still was available on various "swingers" Web sites, where the business boasted "five-star clubhouse amenities."
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