Tri-Service
Illegal Casinos: The Bet That Won't Pay Out
The yellow excavator went about its work with gusto. With the media looking on the driver extended its long rear arm and smashed the bucket down like a fist. The target of this attack - piles of gaming tables and slot machines, all of them seized from illegal gambling dens uncovered inside Cyprus' Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) during the past 12 months.
Mick Matthews, Chief Constable of the SBA, told Forces TV:
"This is the result of a number of raids, seven in total in the last year on the Sovereign Bases. Our intelligence leads us to believe these are organised criminal groups that are setting these up and they're making vast sums of money."
Facing destruction were 14 roulette tables, 48 poker and blackjack tables and 13 electronic gaming machines. But this accounts for just 20 per cent of what police have seized.
Nearby, inside a cavernous hangar were hundreds more items, everything from chairs to scooters, even a Ford Transit van.
All of this is evidence in cases which are currently going through the SBA courts. If their owners are convicted, these too will be crushed. Mr Matthews said:
"We are sending a very clear message to these criminal families that we are going to continue to target you, we are going to prosecute you, and if successful we are going to take away your assets and destroy them,"
Setting up an illegal casino is expensive. Police estimate a fruit machine costs the criminal gangs around 5,000 euros (£3,700); a fully operational roulette table 50,000 euros (£37,800). But the rewards can be huge. Not only do the gangs avoid tax, but the gambling dens attract other crimes such as drugs and sex trafficking.
"We're aware that exploitation of women also goes on inside these premises so we're not going to allow this to gain a foothold in the Sovereign Bases and we're coming down very hard on those criminal gangs that think they can get away with it."
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