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An illegal gambling network operating out of a Florida strip-mall has been raided. The enterprise took place in multiple locations close to many of South Florida's legal casinos. state and local law enforcement agencies were involved in the take down.
Authorities raided slot-machine parlors in suburban West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach and Zephyrhills, confiscating machines and cash. They also charged officers of a company in Miami that sold slot machines to illegal casinos. At least five people face various gambling and money-laundering charges after an operation led by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and involving several other agencies.
The investigation began in 2022 with undercover officers posing as gamblers. They played the slot machines and others posed as casino owners to gather evidence on the Miami company that supplied machines to the illegal gambling operations.
Among the casinos that were raided was VIP Sweepstakes at 2885 N. Military Trail, just outside West Palm Beach, a casino chronicled in a recent Sun Sentinel series on the spread of illegal casinos in Florida.
Florida law prohibits the possession or operation of slot machines except at 15 licensed gambling facilities, which include casinos run by the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes, as well as casinos and race tracks in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
But casinos known as “arcades” operate throughout the state, some openly, some covertly.
