SPD busts up local gambling operation

Police confiscated gambling machines and arrested the owner of the Shafter Tobacco Shop last week.

Yassim Shaw, 50, was cited and released after the Tuesday raid, allegedly allowing illegal gambling in the back room of his business.

The investigation involved officers from the Shafter Police Department and inspectors from the California Tax and Fee Administration, who searched the business and found that the business was in possession of illegal cannibas and tobacco products.

The products were seized by the CDTFA. During the inspection, officers from the Police Department located gambling equipment and gathered evidence of illegal gambling activity within the establishment.

A police detective obtained a warrant for the seizure of the illegal gambling equipment. The police executed the warrant and seized two operational Fish Game-type machines that were discovered in the back storage room of the business, as well as additional evidence of illegal gambling.

Shaw was cited and released for allowing illegal gambling inside his business. Shafter residents are encouraged to notify the Shafter Police Department at 661-746-8500 of any businesses that are engaged in conducting illegal gambling operations on their premises.

Other than the people involved in the illegal gambling at the location, the discovery was not a complete surprise to some. One Shafter resident had recently remarked to The Press that he had noticed a lot of traffic at the shop. The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, observed that there seemed to be a lot of people going into the store, but few on the store floor,

Until recently, the shop had a game machine in which people could put coins in and it would shoot onto a platform. If the movement caused coins already on the platform to fall, the player would win those coins. This machine was moved off of the store floor in the past two months, according to the resident..