On December 1st, 2022, a search warrant was executed on a suspected gaming house inside of a residential home in the 6000 block of Skaha Crescent, Richmond.
A total of 16 individuals were arrested:
- the majority of whom were actively participating in gaming
- 2 individuals, a 45-year old woman from Richmond and a 49-year old man from Surrey were determined to be caretakers of the gaming house
- 2 individuals, a 34-year old man from Richmond and a 38-year old woman from Vancouver were determined to be professional card dealers
During the course of the search, some of the notable items included were:
- over $14,000 in Canadian currency
- gambling ledgers
- an automated Mahjong table
- poker table, chips, and cards
Illegal gaming houses are one piece of the larger organized crime puzzle. This was highly successful operation by our Detachment and our partner agencies. Not only were we able to safely dismantle this gaming house but we were able to gather valuable intelligence
says Staff Sergeant Patrick Damgajian, Unit Commander, Richmond RCMP Organized Crime Unit. We will continue systematically identifying and investigate all such establishments and mitigate the further spread of them in our community adds S/Sgt. Damgajian.
Investigators also learned that one of the caretakers of the house and one of the card dealers were non-Canadian citizens and subject to deportation.
