24 DETAINED IN NEW YORK STATE GAMBLING RAIDS

Posted 2.6.11 : Charges involve online gambling on the Dominican lottery
 
A five month investigation that started with complaints by neighbours and ended in a series of major police raids has seen 24 people detained in a suburb in the lower Hudson Valley in New York, according to local media reports.
 
Police in Haverstraw furnished the press with a list of names of those involved and the charges laid, which centred on internet wagering on the Dominican lottery.
 
"When you start an investigation, you never know where it will take you," said Capt. William Barbera, a representative of one of 19 law enforcement agencies involved in the five-month investigation.
 
At least five of the 24 people arrested in Haverstraw are in the country illegally, according to local District Attorney Thomas Zugibe. Those suspects were turned over to immigration officials, who also participated in the raid.
 
The others face a variety of charges, including promotion of gambling, possession of gambling records and illegal sale of cigarettes. One man arrested during the raid had no connection to the gambling ring, but was found to have an active warrant on an unrelated charge.
 
Police operations included the use of search warrants in raids on ten locations, where thousands of dollars and computer records were seized. Nine of the locations are grocery stores, and one was a beauty parlor.