Victoria Police raid illegal casino in Melbourne’s west

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Police have raided a secret high-roller casino that's allegedly been operating in Melbourne’s west for months. Detectives claim punters paid up to eight-thousand dollars for a seat at the table potentially turning over millions of dollars.

Transcript

00:00 It's not exactly Monaco, but they really, really tried.

00:06 Secreted inside a suburban factory, two poker tables, a fully stocked bar and what police

00:12 say were plenty of high rollers ready for their own casino royale.

00:17 This activity is known to be associated with organised crime and that was the focus of

00:22 our investigation tonight was to disrupt this activity.

00:25 Police last night swooped on what they say was a high-end illegal casino at Trugganina

00:30 in Melbourne's west, seizing cash and drugs and arresting a full house of 21 people, including

00:37 the alleged king behind the whole operation.

00:40 A 35-year-old man from Trugganina who's facing two years behind bars for a $192,000 fine.

00:48 The gambling den has allegedly been running for months and according to police had as

00:52 many as 50 punters a night.

00:55 Each accused of coughing up an $8,000 buy-in fee.

00:59 Taking away the assets generated from events such as this is a significant effort to disrupt

01:03 activity and organised crime.

01:05 This is where police alleged they paid to play.

01:09 Inside the factory, signs of their last hand hastily abandoned when police swooped.

01:14 The only indication this might not have been a professional operation, the TVs, office

01:19 chairs and salad bowls that would be out of place at a real casino.

01:24 Police interviewed the accused punters outside the venue.

01:27 Detectives are expecting to charge them with being inside and drinking in an illegal gambling

01:32 den they'll face court at a later date.

01:35 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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