JACKSONVILLE, Ark. — Nearly a dozen businesses and gas stations in Jacksonville were raided Monday for illegal gambling operations.
It is a bust Jacksonville police are calling the operation "Cash Out." The department executed 11 search warrants on gas stations and convenience stores for operating an illegal gambling house and illegal use of gambling equipment.
"I'm sure most Arkansans have walked in stations and seen these machines," Scott Hardin said.
Police removed the gambling machines and arrested store owners. According to a press release, several of the businesses have been conducting illegal operations since 2017.
The 11 stores raided are:
Bucks Country Store, Citgo Flash Market, Citgo T-Ricks, Feeze Kutz, Han’s Citgo, Heards and Q Tee’s, Hi-Life Market, OK Mart / Valero, Roadrunner Dist., Victory Express and 501 Vapes.
Scott Hardin with the Alcohol and Beverage Control Board said these gambling machines look real. But they're not regulated by the state and he said often the chances of winning are slim to none.
"It's unfortunate because Arkansans really pump money into these things," Hardin said. "There's no requirement that it pays a certain amount back so you are totally putting your money in the hands of someone that says hey there's no rules here."
The ABC did not conduct the search warrants in Jacksonville on Monday. But Hardin said the agency does conduct similar investigations. He estimates the agency removed more than 1,000 illegal machines from convenience stores across the state over the last few years.
"Some of these that law enforcement have taken action on in the past, you literally see stations that have made hundreds of thousands of dollars in a very short period of time," Hardin said.
Hardin says sometimes customers may be gambling for things like a free tank of gas, but that's still illegal.
"When you play that machine and its something of value given in return, at that point it becomes gambling," he said.
So, if you want to gamble, Hardin said to stick to doing it legally.
"We have the lottery, we now have three casinos, all of those are regulated by the state, these other machines are not," he said.
Jacksonville police are holding a press conference Tuesday to release more information about the investigations.
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