Apparently, running an illegal casino out of random buildings in Archer County, Wichita Falls, and Lubbock isn’t as sneaky as it sounds. Law enforcement rolled in with not one, not two, but three search warrants this week, snagging nine people tied to an underground gambling and money laundering operation.
Cops seized $15,000 in cash, two vehicles, and 31 gambling machines—because nothing screams “totally above-board business” like stuffing a bunch of slot machines in a back room off Highway 281. To top it off, investigators say the operators were shipping profits back to China, which sounds less like a small-town vice sting and more like a rejected Narcos spinoff.
The year-long investigation involved everyone from local sheriff’s deputies to Texas Game Wardens, because of course it did. (Somebody’s got to protect the deer blinds from illegal blackjack tables, right?)
Nine arrests, thousands in cash, and a pile of seized machines—and yet, somehow, Lubbock still can’t figure out how to keep its actual city pools open. Priorities.
