Norwegian police launched simultaneous raids against 5 underground poker clubs in Oslo, arresting five people and suggesting that further crackdowns on illegal gambling operations are in the pipeline, with local sources naming the ‘Young Guns’ gang as being among those involved.
As many as 100 police officers were involved in the night-time raids which police attorney Phillip Green claims targeted ‘organised gambling’ in a country which has among the strictest gambling laws in the world.
The Norwegian Lottery Authority were named as part of the joint operation which closed down five clubs, named as Quads, Sentralen, Fish Club, Akerselva Club and the Norwegian Poker Team.
Green explained that Oslo police have been investigating clubs offering illegal gaming, including poker, for a long time:
“We have surveillanced the activity over time and have collected much information on the clubs involved”, adding: “It is not the gamblers who are the focal point of this sting, but those who arrange or participate in arranging illegal poker events.”
In Norway, only the state-owned companies Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto are permitted to offer gambling, although playing poker in private home games for money has been allowed under certain circumstances since 2015, with certain strict criteria. According to Gamblingsites.com, these include:
- The group of people must be from around the same region or area.
- The amount of money from each person playing cannot exceed 1000NOK (roughly $130)
- The total number of players cannot exceed 10.
- The game must commence in a private home and cannot be an organization or have a professional mark.
In the Oslo raids, however, police sources have been reported as saying that criminal gangs have been forcing poker clubs to pay protection money and that the action is ‘part of the Oslo police’s initiative to weaken the criminal gangs and the fringe societies, including the infamous ‘Young Guns’ from the Holmlia district’, according to Norway Today.
“The criminality extends far beyond the violations of the lottery law”, Aftenposten were told by police inspector Tore Soldal.
According to the newspaper, many of the illegal clubs ‘have at times been open 24/7’ and in addition to gambling they ‘supposedly have served alcohol and food without the required food or beverage licenses to do so’.
Although police have refused to name those involved or arrested, it is believed the Oslo-based Young Guns, or ‘Pakistani Brotherhood’, gang has been involved in the protection scam, with another news outlet, Dagbladet, reporting that ‘four of the five arrested individuals are accused of violating the Lottery Act, while two are suspected of ‘gross economic crime.’