TLDR
- State agents seized 163 slot machines and $247,285 in cash from two St. Petersburg businesses on Sept. 10.
- The operation, called Operation Final Spin, targeted Action Arcade and The Zoo Sports Club and Grille.
- Three people received notices to appear on gambling related charges.
- Multiple agencies took part, including the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol.
- Florida officials say more than 200 illegal arcades have been shut down statewide so far.
State agents raided two businesses in St. Petersburg on Sept. 10. They walked away with 163 slot machines and more than $247,000 in cash.
The Florida Gaming Control Commission named the sweep Operation Final Spin. It targeted two locations suspected of running unauthorized gambling machines.
The two businesses were Action Arcade on 54th Avenue North and The Zoo Sports Club and Grille on 66th Street North. Both are in St. Petersburg.
Action Arcade Raid Yields Largest Haul
At Action Arcade, investigators seized 90 slot machines. They also took $142,020 in cash from the location.
Two people connected to the business received notices to appear. They face allegations tied to possessing slot machines and keeping a gambling house.
Agents then moved to The Zoo Sports Club and Grille. They found 73 more machines inside.
Investigators seized $105,265 in cash from that second location. One person there received a notice to appear.
That person faces allegations related to possessing slot machines and working as an agent or employee of a gambling house. The state did not name any of the three people cited.
Combined, the two raids brought the total cash seizure to $247,285. The commission has not said whether more charges could follow.
Multiple Agencies Took Part in the Sweep
The operation was not run by one agency alone. Florida Gaming Control Commission agents worked with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Florida Highway Patrol also joined the effort. So did the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, part of the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
FGCC Vice Chair Tina Repp and state Rep. Berny Jacques took part in the enforcement action as well. Jacques connected the crackdown to financial harm illegal machines can cause older residents on fixed incomes.
Repp said the St. Petersburg raids are part of a larger statewide push. She reported that authorities have already closed more than 200 illegal arcades across Florida.
Slot machines are legal in Florida, but only in specific places. The commission says they are permitted at eight licensed facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Machines are also allowed at facilities run by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The two St. Petersburg businesses do not fall into any of those categories.
That distinction matters as the state continues targeting businesses operating machines outside the regulated system. Investigators did not just issue citations during the Sept. 10 raids.
They physically removed the machines and took the cash found on site. The equipment and money are now held as evidence.
Several details about the case remain unknown. The commission has not said how long the alleged operations were running or how much money passed through the machines before the raid.
The clearest facts available are the ones investigators reported directly. Agents removed 163 machines from two locations and seized $247,285 in a single day of enforcement.
