Il­le­gal gam­bling op­er­a­tions across the coun­try are cost­ing the Gov­ern­ment bil­lions an­nu­al­ly. Po­lice say these op­er­a­tions are al­so fu­elling gang vi­o­lence, hu­man traf­fick­ing and con­tra­band smug­gling.

Of­fi­cers from the Trinidad and To­ba­go Po­lice Ser­vice’s (TTPS) In­ves­ti­ga­tions and Op­er­a­tions Unit (IOU) de­scribed it as “an epi­dem­ic be­ing fu­elled by unchecked fund­ing,” where op­er­a­tors have ac­cess to large amounts of mon­ey not be­ing mon­i­tored, taxed, or con­trolled by au­thor­i­ties. This mon­ey al­lows them to ex­pand quick­ly, bribe of­fi­cials, and con­tin­ue op­er­at­ing de­spite laws.

A na­tion­wide po­lice crack­down on il­le­gal gam­ing has forced sev­er­al busi­ness­es to shut their doors over the past two months.