Texas: Police Crack Down on Gambling in Liquor Stores

Five stores raided in south Dallas in ongoing effort, police say

Source: NBC

By Scott Gordon

November 4, 2015

Dallas police are teaming up with state alcohol agents to crack down on illegal gambling operations inside liquor stores.

Investigations with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission have led the agency to pull the licenses of five stores over the past year, police said.

The liquor stores are tucked away in neighborhoods and it’s easy to hide what is going on, police said.

Investigators said they could not estimate how many liquor stores are fronts for gambling, but added the number is troubling.

Stephanies, in the shadow of Interstate 45, was one of five raided in recent months

Police say it once thrived as an illegal bookie operation, but it is now abandoned — shut down after losing its liquor license.

Police gave NBC 5 an inside look at what they found inside the stores.

A cardboard box opens to reveal “pull tabs,” a numbers game.

Any doubt it’s illegal? A gambling form includes the line: “If the DPD takes the ticket we both lose.”

Out of dozens of gambling receipts seized in one raid, police say there wasn’t a single winner.

“They may be making a lot of money, but if they’re not careful, they will be put out of business,” said Maj. Midge Boyle who supervises the department’s vice unit. “If they’re running illegal activities, we are going to find a way to shut them down.”

Dallas police are doing it by working with the TABC.

When gambling is found, not only are the alleged operators going to jail, but TABC also is yanking the store’s liquor permits.

“What we’re hoping to do is, it’s another tool in our box, to shut down illegal activity,” Boyle said.