A month long investigation into illegal gambling dens in Arkansas led to a SWAT Team raid, five arrests, 12 gambling machines and over $60,000 being seized. A confidential informant told investigators that gambling was taking place at two pool halls in Fort Smith. In Arkansas, gambling is legal only at three licensed casinos.

Captain Philip Pevehouse of the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Department said that gambling occurred in backrooms of these pool halls. In addition to the five arrests, 11 people were issued misdemeanor citations in connection with the unlicensed gambling devices.

Gambling has been a popular activity in the United States for years, although the activity has been suppressed by state and Federal law in many areas. In the early 20th century gambling was almost completely outlawed and thus became a mostly illegal. However, that only helped the mafia and criminal organizations profits.

Many jurisdictions either ban gambling or heavily regulated, and that generally leads to gambling tourism, in turn, ,more illegal gambling in the areas where it is not allowed. The involvement of governments via regulation and taxation has led to a close connection between many governments and gaming organizations to provide significant government revenue

More information on these illegal gambling establishments is available at Casino.org