KTLA

Illicit casinos in San Diego County attract gangs, drugs, violence in quiet neighborhoods

A Google Maps image shows KT Alterations & Gifts, located in a strip mall on El Cajon Boulevard and 48th Street in San Diego. The business shut down as an alleged illegal gambling site during an Oct. 15 raid.

Tucked in an aging strip mall next to a coffee shop and a tax preparer in central San Diego, a clothing alterations shop was running a particularly brisk business.

But expert tailoring wasn’t the draw.


A task force raid in October found evidence of an illegal gambling den, with 16 video gaming machines, about $1,700 in cash concealed in drywall, drugs and methamphetamine pipes, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit.

That same night, investigators busted a similar den, this one also in the City Heights neighborhood, operating in a unit behind a small house.

Read the full story at LATimes.com.