{"id":170684,"date":"2021-04-15T06:01:40","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T13:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=170684"},"modified":"2021-04-15T10:15:49","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T17:15:49","slug":"feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds Raid 24 San Diego Slaphouses, Links to Drugs and V-Boys Street Gang"},"content":{"rendered":"

The FBI disrupted two dozen illegal gambling dens in San Diego Wednesday morning in sweeping raids across the city. The operation resulted in 35 arrests and charges against 47 people, according to federal indictments unsealed Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"slaphouse
Images taken by the FBI from security cameras at various venues targeted in Wednesday\u2019s raids. (Image: FBI San Diego)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to an FBI search-warrant affidavit, at least nine of the 24 businesses raided belonged to one man, Long Ngoc Tran, 41, also known as \u201cLong Tu.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long is a reputed member of the V-Boys Vietnamese street gang, who has previous convictions for illegal gambling and drugs, according to the affidavit.<\/p>\n

In all, 44 firearms, more than 12 pounds of methamphetamine, $263,000 in cash, and 640 gambling machines were seized during the culmination of a two-year investigation.<\/p>\n

Slaphouse Always Wins<\/strong><\/h2>\n

California has seen a marked increase<\/a> in underground gambling dens, sometimes known as \u201cslaphouses<\/a>,\u201d in recent years. They have been linked to drugs and violent crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cNumerous crimes have been linked to the illegal gambling operations,\u201d said SDPD Chief David Nisleit. \u201cThe investigative work led by the Violent Crimes Task Force and the arrests made have created a safer environment for all of our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Slaphouses are named for the button-bashing sound made by patrons playing on illegal machines. They often spring up behind seemingly vacant storefronts in areas where retail has taken a downturn.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Many of the venues raided Wednesday were \u201clocated inside small businesses or inside houses, apartments, and outbuildings in residential neighborhoods,\u201d predominantly in City Heights in the East San Diego area.<\/p>\n

Typically, they operate 24\/7 and have remained open throughout the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Meth Magnets <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The FBI said that those arrested Wednesday ranged from owners of the businesses to those who acted as security doormen and bankers, as well as the drug dealers who operated within the dens.<\/p>\n

According to the warrant, the use and sale of methamphetamine is intrinsically linked to slaphouses and acts as a draw to bring customers to the venues.<\/p>\n

It is common for employees to hand out small amounts of methamphetamine and \u2018comp\u2019 customers to keep them playing and coming back for more,\u201d reads the warrant. \u201cIt\u2019s rare to have a patron who does not use or sell methamphetamine inside these locations.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe have taken down the illegal gambling dens, and we have lifted a weight off our neighborhoods,\u201d said Acting US Attorney Randy Grossman. \u201cAs a result of the collaboration of federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, law-abiding citizens who live in these neighborhoods will be safer without these magnets for crime in their midst.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The FBI disrupted two dozen illegal gambling dens in San Diego Wednesday morning in sweeping raids across the city. The operation resulted in 35 arrests and charges against 47 people, according to federal indictments unsealed Wednesday. According to an FBI search-warrant affidavit, at least nine of the 24 businesses raided belonged to one man, Long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":170685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFeds Raid 24 San Diego Slaphouses, Links to Drugs and V-Boys<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"FBI arrest 35 and charge 42 people in raids on slaphouses and illegal gambling dens across San Diego, many run by \u201cLong Tu.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Feds Raid 24 San Diego Slaphouses, Links to Drugs and V-Boys\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FBI arrest 35 and charge 42 people in raids on slaphouses and illegal gambling dens across San Diego, many run by \u201cLong Tu.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-15T13:01:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-15T17:15:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fbi.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1703\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1179\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang\/\",\"name\":\"Feds Raid 24 San Diego Slaphouses, Links to Drugs and V-Boys\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fbi.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-15T13:01:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-15T17:15:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"FBI arrest 35 and charge 42 people in raids on slaphouses and illegal gambling dens across San Diego, many run by \u201cLong Tu.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/feds-raid-24-san-diego-slaphouses-links-to-drugs-and-v-boys-street-gang\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fbi.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fbi.jpg\",\"width\":1703,\"height\":1179,\"caption\":\"Images taken by the FBI from security cameras at various venues targeted in Wednesday\u2019s raids. 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