Authorities Raid Gaming Halls Run by 3 Indian Tribes : Betting: Nearly 300 slot-type devices are seized in crackdown on illegal machines.

In the first action of an announced statewide crackdown on illegal gambling machines on Indian reservations, a task force of San Diego County law enforcement officials seized nearly 300 slot-type devices Wednesday from three tribal gambling halls.

Among the locations targeted in the simultaneous daylong raids was the vast gambling hall on the Sycuan Reservation near El Cajon, one of the most successful tribal casinos in the nation.

Tribal spokesmen immediately condemned the raids, which followed a directive issued this month by state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren calling on law enforcement officials around California to take “appropriate action” against slot-type machines on reservations.

A statement by the small Sycuan band condemned the seizures as being “in grave error.” The band complained that the San Diego Sheriff’s Department had not first sought negotiations over its use of 38 “pull-tab machines,” which play a video version of a $1 paper game popular at bingo halls.

“The sheriff has chosen action over communication . . . to resolve differences,” Sycuan officials said.

Art Bunce, attorney for the Barona Band of Mission Indians, whose gambling hall was also raided, maintained that local law enforcement has no jurisdiction over gambling on Indian land, and that the seizures thus were illegal. “It’s solely a matter for the federal government,” Bunce said.

But state law enforcement officials say they do have jurisdiction and that tribal attorneys are using such arguments to shield lucrative illegal gambling.

Also raided was the 6-week-old Viejas Casino & Turf Club in Alpine.

The raids were carried out by 90 officers from the Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Police Department and the county district attorney’s office, according to sheriff’s spokesman Dan Greenblat. Two representatives of the Nevada Gaming Commission also took part to help trace machines manufactured in that state, he said.

The operation began about 8:30 a.m. and officers were still removing gambling machines in the late afternoon, Greenblat said. “There were more than we expected,” he said. “We expected 240 . . . the last count was 280 and rising.”

He did not have a breakdown of how many devices were found at each location, but said the machines were worth an estimated $705,000. In addition, they may contain “as much as $162,000” in cash, Greenblat said, “but we won’t know until we empty the machines.”

No one was arrested and no charges stemming from use of the machines have been filed, Greenblat said, adding that “determination of possible arrests will be forthcoming.”

Lungren issued his directive calling for such actions amid disclosures that gambling promoters had installed slot-type devices at eight bingo halls on reservations in California--on three reservations just last month--despite a state prohibition against gambling machines.

Many local police and sheriffs’ officials said they did not know what to do about the lucrative machines because of a patchwork of state and federal laws that govern the fast-growing $1-billion Indian gambling industry.

“There was a lot of confusion in the law enforcement community,” Lungren spokesman Dave Puglia said Wednesday. “We simply clarified that.”

Puglia said local police agencies will have to decide whether to follow San Diego’s lead in confiscating illegal gambling machines on other reservations.

A 1988 federal law, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, cleared the way for tribes to use slot machines in some states, such as Nevada, that have full casinos. But where the machines are banned, as in California, tribes are supposed to seek approval for them in negotiations with the state.

Reservation officials, however, say they have been victimized by long delays in getting guidance on which forms of gambling are legal from the fledgling National Indian Gaming Commission, which was created by the 1988 law. Many tribes are hoping the panel will let them use some gambling machines without the states having a say.

In the letter to Lungren Oct. 11, four California Indian communities--including Sycuan--warned that the proposed crackdown would be “patently unlawful” and could provoke confrontations.

But Wednesday’s raids proceeded without incident, according to both law enforcement and tribal officials.

“As much as we’re upset with the Sheriff’s Department, they at least came in the morning when there weren’t any customers around,” said Fritz Opel, a spokesman for the Sycuan Gaming Center.

He said the raid did not interfere with business at the 68,000-square-foot facility, which has a 1,500-seat bingo parlor, 520-seat off-track betting “theater” and sunken 35-table poker area overlooked by a restaurant, bar and gift shop. Because of gambling revenue, the once-impoverished square-mile reservation now is dotted with new Spanish-style homes, a fire station and other improvements.

“We’re operating, going full speed ahead,” Opel said Wednesday afternoon, estimating the day’s attendance at more than 3,000.

“In fact, we have a very crowded day.”

Castiglione reported from San Diego, Lieberman from Los Angeles.