Police busted two secret gambling rooms in Texas this month. One was hidden inside a Texarkana arcade. The other was inside a home in Bexar County. At least nine people now face charges or sit in jail.
The two busts happened hundreds of miles apart. But they show the same problem. Illegal gambling rooms are hiding behind legal fronts. Some hide inside arcades that claim to run only skill games.
In Texarkana, police say an arcade on New Boston Road ran a secret room. You needed a keypad code to get inside.
The tip came in May. Someone told police the arcade had illegal gambling machines. Police checked the arcade first. They found only skill based machines. Those machines are legal under Texas law.
The case did not stop there. In July, police learned about a hidden room. You could only get in with a keypad code. Detectives went back and watched old body camera video. The video showed a door with a keypad on it.
Police then sent in an undercover agent. The affidavit is a sworn statement police filed in court. It says the agent put $50 into a machine inside the secret room. The agent played poker, keno, and blackjack. One visit, the agent won $450. Another visit, the agent lost the full $50.
Court documents say three people helped the agent gamble inside that room. They are Andrew Tran, 26, Quyen Le, 21, and Thanh Le, 31. All three now face a charge called engaging in organized criminal activity. That charge means police say they worked together to break the law. If convicted, each one could get six months to two years in state jail. All three are out on $50,000 bond each.
That charge does not always mean a big crime ring. Texas law lets prosecutors use it any time two or more people work together to break the law for money. That is why they used it here, even for one small arcade.
In Bexar County, deputies arrested six people. They searched a home on Esma Street. That block sits near South Presa Street and Southton Road. It is on the southeast side of the county.
Deputies say they found 26 illegal gambling machines inside the home. They also found drugs. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office has not said what drugs they found or how much.
The tip that started this case pointed to a home deputies already knew. They said the house had a history of crime. At least three of the six people arrested already had warrants out. That was true before deputies ever knocked on the door.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office has not released the names of the six people. It also has not said what charges they face. Deputies have not said who owned the machines or who ran the house.
Illegal gambling machines keep popping up across Texas. Skill based machines are legal. Machines that pay out cash for games of chance are not. That is the line police were trying to prove in both cases.
The Texarkana case is moving through Bowie County courts. Tran, Quyen Le, and Thanh Le must go back to court as the case moves forward. In Bexar County, the case stays open. Deputies have not said if more arrests are coming.
Everyone is presumed innocent until proved otherwise.
