3 Arrested in Alleged Bookmaking Operation
Three men were arrested in a Sunland apartment for running one of the San Fernando Valley’s largest illegal sports betting operations, which handled about $100,000 in wagers daily, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.
The floating bookmaking operation was based in an apartment in the 10500 block of Sherman Grove Avenue when eight police officers raided the apartment Saturday, police said.
The men, all in their 30s, were arrested on suspicion of operating an illegal betting enterprise, Officer Patricia Ferguson said. Their names were not released because police hope to make other arrests in the case, she said. Two of the men have earlier convictions on illegal betting charges, she said.
The arrests followed a three-week investigation by West Valley Division vice officers to locate the operation’s “front office,” where wagers on professional and college sports events were received by phone and recorded, she said.
“They move their locations a lot,” Ferguson said. Because “the wagers are taken over the phone, it’s much harder to find the office.”
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