Salt Lake City police say they foiled an alleged gambling operation in the Ballpark neighborhood, according to a Wednesday news release.
The department said the bust came after “an extensive undercover investigation” that led detectives to believe illegal gambling was happening at the business My Podzzz, and revenue was ending up at Urban Pawn, a second business with the same owner.
Between the two locations, officers found more than $56,000, two handguns, three gambling machines and a variety of illegal drugs, including fentanyl pills
(Salt Lake City Police Department) Police seized handguns, drugs and over $56,000 in cash after investigating an alleged illegal gambling operation in the Ballpark neighborhood.
Police arrested the store owner. The Salt Lake Tribune generally does not name suspects until charges are filed in court.
According to the probable cause statement, detectives investigating the alleged gambling played on a game machine in one of the man’s businesses. On one occasion, a detective inserted cash, played so they had more credits than what they had entered in cash, and tried to cash out.
Employees gave them the same amount of money they put in the machine. When they asked the employees for the rest, they were told customers were taxed 10% from the game.
According to the release, the area around the My Podzzz business has seen a lot of crime over the last six months.
“Alleged illegal gambling operations like this don’t just violate the law, they create environments where other criminal activity can thrive,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said.
