WATSONVILLE — When opening an illegal casino, you’d think one might look for a space out of site and off the beaten track, but the Watsonville Police Department arrested two women last week who were allegedly running a high-tech gambling operation just a few doors away from the WPD’s substation in the East Lake Village Shopping Center.
Shaina Romero and Fabiola Gama, both 27, were arrested Aug. 8, and charged with possession of slot machines and offering slot machines for play. According to police, the women were running Urban PCS (Pre-Paid Wireless Phone Service) at 984 E. Lake Avenue, which portrayed itself as a cell-phone store, but was really a casino.
WPD Sgt. Eric Taylor said the department investigated the operation for two months. It began, he said, after residents who lived nearby alerted police to possible crimes taking place at the establishment.
“Members of community voiced some concern,” Taylor said. “We heard this place doesn’t seem right and is attracting some bad elements, so we looked inside and thought that it was kind of strange, like a small casino.”
Taylor said the department contacted state gaming officials who said it sounded like other operations being shut down in California. Apparently, the Urban PCS “casino” is just one example of many such establishments opening up throughout the state.
“You go in and buy a prepaid phone card, like you are going to use it for a phone, then they put a piece of tape on the back and write an ID number. You use that number to log into their machines and play a series of games. The whole ruse is that it’s a sweepstakes, that it’s legal, but it definitely isn’t.”
Taylor said the department performed a series of undercover operations in Urban PCS and, while it lacked the glitz of a Las Vegas casino, customers were gambling on the touch-screen computers running mostly video poker and slot machine programs.
“There were a couple of vending machines to get snacks and a cashier that would accept your money and cash you out. It was pretty simple,” he said. “We talked to at least 20 people and they admitted it felt like it is was illegal, but said they were told it was fine.”
No patrons were charged with any crime. Taylor said the police made the bust in the morning in order to cause as little disturbance to the shopping center as possible and was certain the nature of the business was unknown to shopping center management.
“The owners of the shopping center (the Codiga family) are allies of the police department, and have always been helpful,” he said.
And even though the WPD substation was just a stone’s throw away, Taylor said Urban PCS chose its location carefully.
“What they do is research where lottery ticket sales are very high and open nearby. East Lake Liquors is historically a good Lotto seller, and they were right next door,” he said.
In the end, said Taylor, the public should really be credited with cracking this crime. If people had not come forward, there’s no telling how long the alleged casino could have kept operating.
“It doesn’t look sketchy from the outside,” he said. “It looked like a Metro PCS-type store. It’s not something that would normally draw attention.”