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13 face charges in Daytona Beach strip club raid

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.,None — 13 people are facing charges following a raid at a strip club in Daytona Beach.

WFTV was there there early this morning when officers raided The Shark Lounge.

The place is already back open and doing business. It's also a liquor store that's walking distance from the beach in Daytona.

But if Daytona Beach Police Chief Michael Chitwood had it his way, it would be closed for good.

The Shark Lounge continued with business as usual, with customers inside buying liquor. But WFTV went inside to ask why people were allegedly able to buy drugs and prostitutes for the last 16 months and received no comment.

Out of 13 people wanted for soliciting prostitution, dealing drugs, and lewd and lascivious behavior, detectives have arrested 10 of them. Nine of them were all busted in the last 24 hours as a part of a 16-month-long investigation at the Shark Lounge.

Police started investigating the Shark Lounge in 2010, originally doing undercover drug buys.

"We probably made over 20 drug buys in here from 12 different people," Chitwood said.

Chitwood said it didn't take long before some of the dancers started offering his detectives sex for money. Wednesday night, his officers were propositioned twice before detectives moved in and cleaned up.

"It hasn't been cleaned in over 1,000 years. It's skanky, it's filthy," Chitwood said. "If I was a roach, I wouldn't live inside."

The Daytona Beach Police Department is still investigating, and there could be even more arrests from last night's sting.