Taichung police on Thursday arrested 35 people after raiding a gambling venue in a restaurant, including three migrant workers and one suspect wanted for a drug-related crime.
Police raided on the venue in Taichung’s Dali District (大里) after receiving a report on Monday, the Wufeng District (霧峰) Police Precinct said in a news release.
It was reported that the restaurant often welcomed huge numbers of people, none of whom ate, but went straight to the back of the establishment, the statement said, adding that the noise they made raised suspicions that people were gambling inside.
Photo: CNA
Police saw many people entering the restaurant not during meal time and found no sign of them eating, it said.
In addition, there are several security cameras around the restaurant, leading police to suspect that a gambling venue was likely on the second floor of the restaurant, it said.
The precinct and the Taichung Police Department’s Mobile Division formed a task force to raid the venue, deploying a huge number of officers in case gamblers tried to escape, it said.
The police found four staff, including a key suspect surnamed Wu (吳), and 31 gamblers in the venue, and seized gambling devices and more than NT$600,000 as evidence, it said.
Investigators found that gamblers were playing a poker game called “niu niu” (妞妞), in which people win by beating the dealer.
After questioning, the staff and gamblers were handed over to the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office on suspicion of contravening the Criminal Code and the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) respectively, the statement said.
The migrant workers were transferred to the National Immigration Agency‘s Taichung City Specialized Operation Brigades and the drug suspect to the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office for further investigation.
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