Three "Mouse Pad" Chain Internet Cafes Raided in Utah for Illegal Internet Gambling

On Thursday, January 14, three Utah internet cafes were raided by police on the charges of hosting online gambling on the premises.

The chain of “Mouse Pad” cafes were each raided by 15 officers on the morning of the 14th. Police confiscated about 150 machines that had the capacity to run online poker and other digital gambling games, and could facilitate the exchange of money for wagers and earnings. The police made no arrests but several people involved in the raid could be charged.

The raids were the culmination of a long term investigation, based on local citizens’ complaints that illegal online gambling took place in the buildings, but the internet cafes were also attracting other types of illicit activity as well. Unified Police Lieutenant Lex Bell claimed that the department “had seen a significant increase in drug arrests, stolen vehicles and just other property crimes occurring right in the immediate vicinity of these operations." Inside the cafes, Bell claimed his officers found evidence of systematic interactions in which “when [the customers] win, they were given cash.”

A local business owner, Kim Mangalindan, expressed relief that the raids had occurred. “We've been waiting for this for years now. A lot of us are family business owners. I, myself, have lost 50 percent of my business since they moved in."

The raid hearkens back to 2008, when officers shut down another Mouse Pad cafe for online gambling, as well as suspicion for money laundering, and confiscated 30 machines. At that location, customers’ highest gambling winnings were ranked on a board in-house. Some had won prizes of over a thousand dollars.