SLO County bar employees busted for drug dealing after undercover investigation, police say
State and local law enforcement officers busted employees of an Atascadero bar and card room as part of a six-month undercover investigation into an illegal drug dealing operation on Wednesday afternoon, the Atascadero Police Department said in a news release.
The investigation started after police received a tip from members of the community, Atascadero spokesperson Terrie Banish told The Tribune.
Officers searched Outlaws Bar and Casino, where two of the suspects were employed, and two of the suspects’ houses with warrants on Wednesday around 2 p.m., the Police Department said.
One of the searched houses was on the 5500 block of Traffic Way in Atascadero and the other was in Paso Robles on the 700 block of Creston Road. Outlaws Bar and Casino is located at 9850 E. Front Street.
In total, law enforcement officers seized 13.8 ounces of cocaine and over $28,000 in cash from the searches, the release said.
Officers also arrested three suspects: Elias Contreras, 29, of Paso Robles; Justin Hall, 31, of Atascadero; and Chelsea Deperna, 42, of Atascadero.
Contreras and Hall, both employees at Outlaws, were each arrested on suspicion of charges of three separate counts of possession of a controlled substance for sale, sales and transportation of a controlled substance and criminal conspiracy, according to the release. They were booked into the San Luis Obispo County Jail, with bail set at $250,000 each.
Deperna was arrested on suspicion of charges of possession of a controlled substance with two prior convictions and was booked into the SLO County Jail with a $20,000 bail.
The search warrants and arrests were carried out as part of a six-month undercover investigation into the sale of illegal narcotics led by the Atascadero Police Department’s Special Enforcement Team in collaboration with the Paso Robles Police Department and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the release said.
The investigation involved a combination of regular police work and an undercover investigation by the multiple agencies, Banish said.
“Like so many other good investigations and arrests, this came to us by the members of the community,” Banish said. She added it shows “why it’s important to bring things like this to the police officers’ attention.”
“We encourage our community to share information when they have it,” Banish said.
This case remains under investigation.
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 12:46 PM.
