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LPD & District Attorney’s Office Execute Search Warrants

Over a 12 week investigation lead to two amusement casinos to be raided on Saturday evening at approximately 11:00 pm.  Both the Laredo Police Department, a combination of Detectives from several divisions and the patrol division, with Investigators from the District Attorney’s Office enacted “Operation Texas Fold ‘Em” in which two casinos, both located on Jacaman Road, was raided by officers from both entities.  Both Chief Carlos Maldonado and District Attorney Isidro “Chilo” Alaniz were present at the raids to take stock of the extent and size that these types of operations can entail.  The Open Amusement Casino had 183 slot machines and the Lucky Dragon Casino, just east on Jacaman, had 209 machines.  The search warrants were a result of covert undercover police officers posing as casino patrons that were paid cash well over the state mandated $5 limit on more than several occasions during the course of the investigation.  The biggest result came from the Lucky Dragon with a cash seizure of $136,000.  The Lucky Dragon had machines with several thousand dollars of currency still in them.  The Open Amusement Casino had $15,159 making the combination of total currency for both at approximately just over $150,000 dollars. 

          The casino patrons inside the establishments were identified by law enforcement personnel for investigative purposes and may face the possibility of being subpoenaed in the future as possible witnesses in this criminal case.  There were over 50 patrons in the Lucky Dragon alone and approximately 15 people in the Open Amusement.  Arrests are imminent in this case, but none have materialized as of yet at this point of the investigation.  Both businesses are shut down and are being protected by police officers until Monday when the machines will be hauled off to an undisclosed warehouse to be held as evidence in this ongoing criminal case.