Costa Rica Tied to Illegal Gambling Raids

Police Arrest Dozens in "Operation High Stakes"

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has served 40 search warrants simultaneously in connection with illegal gambling rings. The warrants were served in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and targeted four separate, but loosely connected, gambling rings that ran illegal gambling and loan sharking operations. The gambling rings centered their activities around internet sportsbooks based in Costa Rica.

Titled as "Operation High Stakes", the series of gambling raids came on the heels of a two year undercover investigation in which special agents infiltrated the gambling rings. The raids resulted in the arrest of 31 individuals connected with the gambling rings, with more arrests expected to be forthcoming. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office also seized millions of dollars in cash and approximately 30 high-end luxury cars as part of the raid.

"In fact, one guy we arrested had the license plate 'Bet to Win.' He just lost because he's in jail," Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told a Phoenix area radio station, 92.3 KTAR.

The gambling rings targeted by Operation High Stakes operated out of homes and bars, and used internet based betting sites in Costa Rica to accept bets online and via toll free telephone numbers. Although much of the betting activity took place on the internet, the majority of payments and collections were done in person, and managed by gambling rings based in Phoenix.

"Millions of dollars were being collected, sometimes extorted from people here who placed bets through these illegal gambling operations," Arpaio said when interviewed by the Phoenix CBS affiliate, Channel 5. "If someone couldn't pay their debts, interest rates as high as 51 percent were levied."

The Sheriff went on to report that many gamblers were forced to sell their homes and empty out their retirement funds in order to pay off gambling debts to the syndicates, who often used strong arm collection tactics against the bettors.