Seine-Saint-Denis: an illegal gambling den dismantled, five people indicted

Opened clandestinely at night, the bar housed card games in a cloud of smoke: a gambling den was dismantled in Stains in Seine-Saint-Denis and five suspected organizers were indicted Tuesday, December 15, we learned from corroborating sources.

Read also: Clandestine parties interrupted in Marseille and Strasbourg

On the night of Saturday to Sunday, after two months of investigation, the police took over the underground games room, located in a bar on a busy thoroughfare in Stains.

"

" gathered around four gaming tables in a "

", explained Eric Levy-Valensi, assistant to the head of the Central Service of Races and Games (SCCJ) of the judicial police, who conducted the investigation.

The gambling den, open since early 2020, "

", was frequented mainly by members of the Kurdish-Turkish community living in the Paris region, according to a source close to the investigation.

They were playing "

», Added Levy-Valensi.

On the spot, the police seized, apart from many cards, a slot machine and 10,000 euros in cash.

The gambling den operated daily with an average of twenty players on weekdays and peak attendance at weekends.

To get paid, the organizers went regularly between the tables.

“

” said Levy-Valensi.

Five men, the manager of the bar and the alleged organizers of the parties, aged 36 to 50, were indicted on Tuesday, in particular for "

”and placed under judicial control, said the Bobigny prosecutor's office.

In 2020, the SCCJ dismantled a dozen gambling dens of this type, mainly located in large metropolises.

In addition, an investigation carried out by the brigade for the repression of banditry led to the indictment on December 3 of five people in another case of illegal games, which took place in tea rooms in Blanc-Mesnil and La Courneuve as well as in the basement of a building in Aulnay-sous-Bois, said the Bobigny parquet.