Police Raid Sites of Alleged Betting

Vice detectives raided three homes and a Vietnamese restaurant Sunday following a three-month investigation into illegal sports bookmaking.

Armed with search warrants, police seized dozens of sports betting records and $14,000 in cash at residences in Poway, Linda Vista and Clairemont and Nam Phuong Food Market in Linda Vista, police spokesman Bill Robinson said.

No arrests were made, but four suspects are being sought.

Vice Sgt. L.D. Martin said all four locations were taking illegal bets in person and over the telephone. The four operations were taking in over $140,000 a week, $7,000 a week of which was net profits, he said.

The bookmaking operations were run by Southeast Asians, predominantly Vietnamese, Robinson said. At the Poway location, he said, a police officer who spoke Vietnamese took over the phones and began taking bets.