Police raid on suspected Oakland gambling den nets pot, magic mushrooms and cash

Police here conducted yet another raid on a suspected clandestine casino, this time seizing nine gambling machines and thousands in cash, authorities said.

Additionally, officers found 40 pounds of psychedelic mushrooms and roughly 25 pounds of marijuana, as well as ammunition and receipts related to suspected illegal gambling, police said. Roughly $3,000 in cash was reportedly seized in the Dec. 12, 2023, raid.

The operation targeted a home on the 1000 block of 5th Avenue in Oakland, after three separate reported shootings in which the building was struck by gunfire, authorities said. The shootings occurred on Nov. 24, Nov. 28 and Dec. 10, but no injuries were reported.

Raids at suspected illegal casinos in Oakland seem to happen with some regularity, oftentimes after violence, and many of the underground gambling dens have been located in neighborhoods east of Lake Merritt.

Last August, four men — including one with ties to a local gang who is a person of interest in a homicide — were arrested on gun charges at a gambling den on the 2300 block of East 16th Street, where they were allegedly providing security. In 2022, three were charged with torture for allegedly stripping and beating a patron at an illegal casino on the 1900 block of 17th Avenue, which was reportedly run by a man who'd been seen at several other suspected gaming establishments. In 2021, a police raid on a 14th Avenue home turned up eight guns, 18 gaming machines and $21,000 in cash, as well as various amounts of illicit drugs, police said.