Crime & Courts

Troopers make 2 more arrests stemming from drug sting at Wasilla bar

PALMER — Alaska State Troopers said they have made two additional arrests following a drug bust at the Mug-Shot Saloon in Wasilla this month.

Troopers say an investigation into suspected drug trafficking at the bar involving multiple undercover agents began in August.

Numerous law enforcement agencies executing a search warrant at the bar on a busy Friday night, Dec. 6, arrested 45-year-old Mark Nester, who worked as a bouncer there, troopers have said. Nester is accused of selling cocaine to a bar customer.

Last Friday, troopers said they served another warrant at a home in Meadow Lakes just west of Wasilla and arrested two other men, including one who also worked as a bouncer at the bar.

Nester was also arrested again, this time for violating his probation after about an ounce of methamphetamine was found in a honey bucket in a garage where he was staying, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.

Troopers identified the two men arrested Friday as 40-year-old Wasilla resident Justin Jensen and 29-year-old Wasilla resident Andre Davis. Jensen worked as a bouncer at the bar, according to the complaint. Davis was not a current employee at the bar but “did participate in the trafficking of illegal narcotics,” troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel said in an email Monday.

Jensen and Davis are facing third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance charges.

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The three men arrested Friday were together at the house when troopers and other agencies arrived, according to sworn affidavits filed with complaints.

Jensen sold cocaine to an undercover agent at the bar, according to an affidavit filed in the case. Davis “regularly purchased drugs” from Nester, it said.

Two other people named in the new complaints have not been charged at this time, McDaniel said. One is described as a bar employee, the other as the owner of several local businesses.

More arrests may be made or charges filed as the investigation continues, he said.

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