The tokens on the gaming tables were branded "Nardinamouk" (an insult in Arabic) with a template drawn on them.
An important clandestine gambling den, close to the narcotics industry, was dismantled on the night of Sunday 6 to Monday 7 June in the 11th arrondissement of Paris by the police from the Central Service of Races and Games (SCCJ) of the Central Police Department judicial (DCPJ).
The underground games room was located on the ground floor of a luxury building in a former restaurant, The Smoke House.
The gambling den was established in this building only a few weeks ago, after having passed through several places between Paris and the suburbs.
A total of twenty-eight people were arrested, of which thirteen were taken into police custody.
Six were indicted, in particular for "carrying out in an organized band of organization of gambling and chance".
Among them, the alleged organizer, a seasoned 40-year-old criminal, was imprisoned, the others placed under judicial control by a judge of the high court of Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine).
Lobster and massages
The luxury underground games room offered all kinds of services during the games: hookah bar, massages that can be accompanied by sexual services, drinks, catering ... The evening of the descent of the games service, veal chops and a gratin dauphinois were on the menu. But, according to the cook, a real chef employed during the day in a restaurant, lobster would have already been served to the players. The gambling den also had real dealers and several hostesses - four of them, placed in police custody, were not referred. The massage sessions performed were billed between 150 and 300 euros.
The gambling den, which had two table games, advertised on social networks and offered an online betting forecast service.
The entry fee to play was set between 200 and 300 euros, and games could reach several thousand euros.
We played mainly cash poker, classic or tournament mode.
The places were mainly frequented by a clientele from the thugs.
When the SCCJ police officers disembarked on rogatory commission from a judge in Nanterre, around ten players were seated, while around fifteen others were waiting their turn.
Several thousand euros were seized on the spot.
A proliferation of illegal gambling dens
With the Covid-19 health crisis, players can no longer legally attend gaming establishments, illegal gambling dens have multiplied, and in particular those offering luxury services.
Already, in April, an establishment run by major thugs had been dismantled, avenue Foch in Paris (16th century), by the racing and gaming police.
It is the fourth underground gambling den closed since the beginning of the year.
"These are increasingly complex investigations, the organizers are working to implement a form of mobility of their establishments to avoid being noticed", recently explained to us the divisional commissioner Stéphane Piallat, the new head of the SCCJ.
In the building on rue Guillaume-Bertrand, the neighborhood had already complained of noise pollution and incessant comings and goings.