February 2016 - Photo Courtesy ABC

CITRUS HEIGHTS -  On June 1, 2017, California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) revoked the liquor license for the Inferno Bar and Grill in Citrus Heights, making it illegal for the business to sell or serve alcohol.  The revocation follows a lengthy undercover drug investigation in which  ABC agents arrested at least two Inferno employees accused of selling cocaine on the premises.

Photo Courtesy ABC

ABC agents served a search warrant at the Inferno Sports Bar & Grill on February 18, 2016 after undercover agents purchased 17.5 grams of cocaine from premises employees.  During the investigation, ABC agents purchased cocaine from three different Inferno employees seven times over a four-month period. On the day of the search warrant, agents from Redding, Stockton and the ABC Headquarters Trade Enforcement Unit (TEU) assisted.

At the time, the city of Citrus Heights also assisted by issuing penalties against the bar and grill’s business permit.

“Undercover investigations are a very important, and also, dangerous function of ABC agents,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona.  “ABC agents who work undercover as drug buyers must be convincing and  become trusted by drug dealers.  To do this for months at a time for each investigation can be taxing and certainly puts the safety of those agents at risk.”