Yesterday reportedly saw police in the southern American state of Georgia raid four businesses suspected of hosting illegal gambling operations along with a pair of associated homes before making multiple arrests.
According to a report from local television broadcaster WAGA-TV, the action coordinated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Commercial Gambling Unit involved more than 50 officers and saw search warrants simultaneously executed at sites in the small cities of Hull, Comer, Athens and Carlton.
The broadcaster reported that the raids in northeast Georgia resulted in the seizure of monetary assets derived from the “illegal use of gaming machines” while police additionally collected evidence related to commercial gambling.
WAGA-TV reported that the four businesses had been licensed to offer coin-operated amusement machines but came to the attention of law enforcement officials after allegations arose that they may have been rewarding winning punters with cash rather than store tokens or lottery tickets, which is a practice that is against state law.
The raided businesses reportedly encompassed a Kwik-Chek convenience store in Hull, the Kwik Pick Gulf service station in Athens and a Valero outlet in Comer as well as Carlton’s Sandy Cross Hardware and Cafe. The crack-down, which also saw homes in Watkinsville and Hull searched, additionally involved officers from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, the Athens-Clarke County Drug Task Force and the Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office working in cooperation with the Georgia Lottery Corporation and the Georgia Department of Revenue.