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Honolulu police are shutting down illegal gambling houses at the fastest pace in four years, seizing firearms, drugs, and digital gaming machines in neighborhoods from Waikiki to Waimanalo.
Through the first quarter of 2021 the Honolulu Police Department executed 18 search warrants and made 27 arrests compared to 37 warrants and 72 arrests in all of last year. On any given day there are between 50 and 80 illegal game rooms taking wagers on Oahu, according to police.
On Tuesday, officers with HPD’s Narcotics Vice division and District 1 Crime Reduction Unit raided a game room in Kakaako near Waimanu Street, confiscating two dozen gambling machines, cash and drugs. So far this year, police have taken more than 150 gambling machines off Oahu’s streets.
“We’ll hit one to three a week, and that never slowed down during the pandemic. We go in and clean one out; they can be set up in the next day or two,” Maj. Phillip Johnson, head of HPD’s Narcotics Vice Division, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “There is a connection in the syndicates running gambling and drugs, some connections on an organized level and some are mom and pops. It’s a lot easier to set one up and make money really quickly.”
This year officers have executed search warrants and stopped gambling operations on Sand Island, in Waianae, Liliha, Waikiki, and on Kawaihao Street.
On May 5, officers with the District 5 Crime Reduction Unit, the Narcotics/Vice Division, District 5 Community Policing Team, and Specialized Services Division seized more than a dozen gambling machines, cash and drugs from a gambling den in Kalihi. A 51-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly promoting and possessing gambling devices.
“We are aware of active game rooms islandwide; however, the Kalihi area (HPD District 5) has more than any other community,” Johnson said.
In September 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s office indicted 15 people in connection with clandestine gambling rooms.
The charges included conducting an illegal gambling business, robberies involving the use of firearms and methamphetamine trafficking. The indictments were the product of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, HPD, and the Hawaii High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.
“This office remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to curtail the presence of illegal game rooms and the violent crime and drugs they can bring to our community,” said Judith A. Philips, the acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii.
The gaming operations on Oahu are mobile and are set up and broken down quickly to avoid detection. The digital games of chance often sit six to a table, with the contest playing out on a shared screen. Flat screens hung on the walls display point and money leaders.
Homes with a lot of people coming and going, abandoned houses, vacant commercial buildings, or businesses closed at night are prime spots.
Prosecuting attorney Steven S. Alm and Johnson said nuisance abatement and asset forfeiture laws help stop criminals from moving a gaming house to a new location after police break it up.
Property owners who house gambling syndicates could face a lot more than misdemeanor charges.
In as many cases as possible, police and prosecutors use civil asset forfeiture proceedings to stop repeat offenders and break up organized gambling rings by taking away their homes, devices, cars and any other property used as part of their illegal operations.
“The Department takes illegal gambling very seriously as it has a profound negative effect on neighborhoods across Oahu. While we can prosecute those who are arrested on the premises, it is more difficult to prosecute absentee property owners for gambling offenses,” said Alm, in a statement to the Star-Advertiser. “We are working with HPD to increase the use of other law enforcement tools such as civil asset forfeiture and civil nuisance abatement to hold property owners accountable for the illegal behavior they allow to occur on their properties.”
Violence is always a concern in rooms filled with people engaging in illegal activity, so each game room operator employs security to keep order.
Rival groups constantly vie for the right to protect game rooms. The more profitable the room, the larger the security fee. The competition can be deadly.
In February 2008, Kai Ming Wang pled guilty to conspiring to operate an illegal enterprise after he admitted to hiring Kevin A. Gonsalves, Rodney Joseph Jr. and Ethan Motta to protect his Young Street gambling operation.
During a dispute with a rival security gang, Gonsalves and Joseph later admitted in federal court that they shot and killed Romelius Corpuz Jr. on Jan. 7, 2004, in the parking lot of the Pali Golf Course while players walked the fairways. Motta admitted he shot Tinoimalu Sao in the face. Sao survived.
“We have seen violence at game rooms. We are also aware of incidents that go unreported by the victims. We frequently recover firearms during our game room search warrants. We do recover illegal narcotics as well, but it is usually small amounts,” said Johnson. “Gambling is illegal in Hawaii, and illegal game rooms attract a wide and diverse range of customers. When violence does occur, all patrons of the establishment are at risk of being injured. In addition, the increase in foot traffic and other activity outside of an active game room can be a real nuisance to the community.”
To report illegal gambling, call the Narcotics/Vice 24-hour hotline at 723-3933.
Gambling establishment warrants executed:
2018 – 31
2019 – 32
2020 – 37
2021 (1st quarter) – 18
Gambling arrests:
2018 – 88
2019 – 61
2020 – 72
2021 (1st quarter) – 27
Source: Honolulu Police Department
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