Private Investigator's Undercover Report Reveals Illegal Alcohol and Drug Sales on 6th Street

AUSTIN, Texas — A new report highlights concerns about drugs, violence and allegations of illegal activity in Austin's Sixth Street entertainment district.

Over the past year, the Pecan Street Owners Association (PSOA) has investigated allegations of illegal after-hours sales of alcohol and drugs on the street. Last March, they hired Vicio Security and Investigations owner Marcus Stokke – who is also a former Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) supervisor – to go undercover at several bars on Sixth Street.

“We would go to the unlicensed clubs, the after-hours clubs, and we would usually work there until about 4 or 5 in the morning,” Stokke said.

Stokke and his team investigated several licensed and unlicensed bars from March 21-23 and March 28-30, 2024, from approximately 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. each evening.

In Texas, it is illegal for bars with a “late hours” license to serve alcohol in public after 2 a.m. But as Stokke observed, once we got to 2:15 a.m., the time Texas law prohibits public drinking, several of these unlicensed “off-hours” clubs were opened and continued to serve alcohol.

“They stay in these bars and can really drink until daybreak,” Stokke said.

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Another major discovery concerned alleged drug dealing on the streets and a significant presence of drugs in bars.

“Drug activity – especially serious drug activity, including heroin, fentanyl and those kinds of things – needs to be cracked down on,” Stokke said.

Based on his observations and conversations with Sixth Street residents, Stokke believes a contributing factor to all the alleged illegal activity is the fact that people come from out of town to party outside in the street closed.

“People are literally driving there with their own alcohol and drugs and just having a big street party,” Stokke said. “I would say it's probably time to open up the street until these criminal elements can't flourish here like that anymore.”

Since the PSOA reported concerns about illegal activity on Sixth Street to the TABC in March 2023, the TABC told KVUE it has been conducting several of its own undercover investigations. All of these investigations are currently still open, so the TABC could not release more information about their contents until they are completed.

The TABC also said it is working with local law enforcement on additional ways to address these concerns while investigations are ongoing.

RELATED: It's been 3 years since the mass shooting on Sixth Street | Here's what the city has done since to ensure safety

Austin Police Department (APD) Acting Police Chief Robin Henderson responded to the PSOA's investigation Friday afternoon, saying APD appreciates the PSOA's efforts to investigate and report on these incidents and will send the report to the appropriate units for follow-up. -UPS.

Austin City Council member Zo Qadri (District 9) said in a statement to KVUE that these alleged incidents are also something the council is investigating.

“I host a quarterly public safety meeting to facilitate conversations between businesses, the Austin Code Department, and the Austin Police Department to address various safety and health concerns in the center -city,” Qadri said in the statement. “Out-of-hours concerns have been reported to the appropriate departments and I will continue conversations on active solutions with our state and local agencies to address this issue.”

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