Crime Scenes

The Joker Gets Raided for Cocaine Deals

The Joker
The Joker Photo: Omar Omar via Flickr

Yesterday search warrants were served to Santa Monica’s dive-bar favorite The Joker, following an investigation where “two employees and customers sold undercover agents cocaine on four separate occasions.” Santa Monica Daily Press reports that officers arrested one bartender and found a bag of the narcotic in the establishment’s bathroom. Another individual was also arrested, while cops recovered about two ounces of Bogota-booger-sugar with scales, bags, and $5,000 in cash in other locations. The Joker has recently become a problem, police say, with reports of loud fights and a car fire in the parking lot, while it allegedly served as the H.Q. for a local criminal gang. The bar’s owner has not been arrested, but could potentially lose his liquor license in the follow-up. Meanwhile, as far as we can tell, neighboring Rae’s only has drinkable Coke, fights are kept to the kitchen, and gang members usually leave right after they eat.

Cops allege bartenders, patrons sold cocaine at The Joker [Santa Monica Daily Press]

The Joker Gets Raided for Cocaine Deals