UK: Law enforcement raids illegal gambling den in Cardiff, two arrested

Officers from the Tarian Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU), working in partnership with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), HMRC and Cardiff City Council Licensing, executed six warrants across Cardiff on Wednesday 28 February. 

The warrants followed intelligence that an illegal gambling den was operating in Splott, UKGC said in a statement. 

Two males were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and gambling act offenses. The den, which occupied the upstairs area of an industrial unit in Splott, was searched, and all gambling paraphernalia seized and removed. The seizure included six poker tables, a spinning prize wheel, poker coins and chips, and multiple flatscreen televisions.

“We are committed to tackling illegal gambling activity across the UK and will continue working closely with law enforcement and partner agencies to achieve this,” Kay Roberts, Gambling Commission Executive Director of Operations, said.

The Cardiff den was raided as part of Operation Henhouse, a month-long intensification period against fraud. Funded by the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), Operation Henhouse was a collaborative effort by multiple police forces, organized crime units, and partner agencies across the UK.

Detective Sergeant Emma Brown of Tarian’s Proactive Economic Crime Team (PECT) said: “Fraud has become the most commonly recorded crime in England and Wales and is often committed in conjunction with other serious offenses, such as money laundering. 

"Over the course of the Henhouse intensification period, we have arrested individuals under suspicion of Fraud by False Representation and money laundering, together with executing warrants in respect of the distribution of illegal TV Firesticks.