Authorities bust ‘sexually oriented’ San Antonio-area business called Pink Monkey Cabaret

Late Sunday, Atascosa County authorities closed an establishment called the Pink Monkey Cabaret, accusing its operators of illegally operating a “sexually oriented business.”

The bust, dubbed Operation High Heel, resulted in four arrests, according to a Facebook post by the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Department. The business is located a half-hour South of San Antonio on Highway 16 near Woodland Hills. 
Operating a sexually oriented business without a license is a Class A misdemeanor, according to the department’s post. The building also lacked running water, functional restrooms, fire exits and had “a variety of other safety issues,” according to the statement.

Among the four arrests made, three were San Antonio residents and one was from Pleasanton, just outside the Alamo City, according to the Facebook post.

Those picked up included San Antonio resident Morgan Gee, 30, who also was booked for possession of 1-4 grams of a controlled substance under penalty group 2, which includes meth, MDMA, ecstasy, PCP and other drugs deemed to have a high potential for chemical dependency, according to the sheriff’s department.

The other suspects arrested in the sweep were Martin Compian, 32, of San Antonio; Michael Cardona, 43, also of San Antonio, and Mary Ann Sanchez, 43, of Pleasanton, the department said in its post.

The business is now closed and cannot legally reopen, the department’s statement continues, adding that additional charges are pending.

“If you bring this type of business to Atascosa County and try to go around the laws we have in place, we will respond accordingly,” Sheriff Jake Guerra said in a statement included in the Facebook post. “Our #1 priority is to protect our residents and their families.”

With names like the Pink Monkey and Operation High Heel, the bust seems like just the sort of thing ripe to be immortalized in song — perhaps in the style of ZZ Top’s “La Grange” or Ray Wylie Hubbard’s “Snake Farm.”

But one question remains — how hot were the monkeys?
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This article appears in Feb 5-18, 2025.