Officials say it's proof that illegal gambling in the Gateway City is getting more sophisticated. Three people were arrested, and over 50 thousand dollars confiscated, in 2 separate raids that, police say, were a little bizarre. Our Cynthia Cano has the story.
" 'The establishment had a system, reminiscent to that of the 1920's Prohibition Gin Room days, where they would basically press a panic button, letting everyone in the casino know there was a prevalence of police presence coming,' says Investigator Joe Baeza. At around 11:30 last night, police raided 'The Aquarium' gaming facility on the 1900 block of E. Saunders, and the 'Pyramide' gaming room along San Bernardo. In the process, 56-year-old Ariel Perez Espinola, 26-year-old Berenice Chapa, and 27-year-old Joel Molina-Mendez were all taken into custody and are now facing charges of gambling promotion. And this is what they found. Inside 'Pyramide', only 8 feet away from the entrance, was a table with a panic button on the inside. Once pressed, the button would sound off an alarm on the second floor of the building, where a safe was storing what turned out to be over 27 thousand dollars in cash. When police raided 'Pyramide', their system was activiated. 'In the money room upstairs, an alarm was sounding off, and the person was quickly trying to get rid of money that was inside fo the safe at the time. They were dumping the money inside of trash bins and we later discovered trash cans filled with currency,' says Baeza. Baeza says it's all proof that illegal gambling facilities are getting more sophisticated in conducting organized crime. 'The sophistication of anti-surveillance is very prevalent now,' he says. Cynthia Cano, Pro 8 News."
Police say one arrest is still pending in that case. Officers expect to make that arrest soon.