One, addicted to poker, was sequestered by his creditors. The other organized clandestine parties with his father, a man already well known to the police. Judicial police investigators recently dismantled two illegal gambling halls, one in Hauts-de-Seine, the other in Seine-Saint-Denis. Particularity of his two cases without apparent links: two teenagers were involved, one as a victim, the other as a suspect. “It is not often that we find minors in our files”, confides to 20 minutes commissioner Stéphane Piallat, head of the Central Races and Games Department.
The first case starts in March 2022. The police at the Issy-les-Moulineaux police station learn that a young man has been kidnapped due to a large gambling debt. Officials discover on this occasion that he used to play in a gambling den, installed in a discreet apartment in this city of Hauts-de-Seine. The Central Races and Games Service then collects the investigations. “You have to prove that it is a gambling den because it is not forbidden to play poker, and the presence of money is not enough, explains Commissioner Piallat. What is is that it is open to the public, that there is the expectation of a gain and that people pay to play. »
Link to banditry
The investigators manage to identify the members of the team who regularly organized these parties. Experienced criminals, aged around forty, already well known in police documentation, in particular for acts of drug trafficking, rape, destruction of property or intentional violence. When the police take over the premises, they discover dozens of people busy around the tables.
“You often find people in these places who also frequent the legal gambling halls. They come for the atmosphere, because you can smoke, or to take advantage of additional services, like masseuses, things like that. And there are also thugs, ”continues Stéphane Piallat, stressing that there has always been a link between gambling dens and banditry.
On the spot, the police get their hands on cards, tokens, more than 11,000 euros in cash. The investigations revealed that the organizers pocketed around 5,000 euros per game. Four suspects have since been indicted by an investigating judge and placed under judicial supervision.
“A great organization”
The other case takes place in Seine-Saint-Denis. The police discover, at the end of 2022, the existence of a gambling den in Noisy-le-Grand thanks to information provided by another service. Here again, the organizers of these illicit poker games are unfavorably known to the archives of the police and the justice system, in particular for armed robbery, violence, or fraud. “There were drinks, meals, a waitress, a croupier… It was a great organization,” notes the head of the Central Races and Games Department. One of the suspects had involved his 17-year-old son in the organization of these parties, which were also held on another site, in Aubervilliers.
During the searches, at the beginning of February, the investigators got their hands on a balaclava and a firearm. Four suspects, who have been indicted, will be tried in the spring.
Lobster evenings
“It’s not just a phenomenon in the Ile-de-France or Paris, there are also gambling dens in the provinces. We recently did business in Lyon and Lille,” observes Commissioner Piallat. Most often, players hear about these places through word of mouth. But sometimes organizers promote their game circle on social media. The head of the Races and Games Department remembers in particular “a gambling den in the 11th arrondissement of Paris whose organizer advertised lobster evenings because he had a cook on his team! »