Strange raids VictoryLand, calls for legislative action on gambling

SHORTER, Ala. (WALA) - A spokesperson for the Alabama attorney general’s office said law enforcement officials seized “several hundred gambling machines and an undisclosed amount of cash” from VictoryLand Casino in Shorter, Ala. during a raid on Tuesday.

This comes months after the casino reopened in December 2012. Officials with the office of AG Luther Strange said the action was taken in response to illegal gambling operations.

“Today’s actions are the culmination of an investigative process over the last several months,” said the attorney general. “From my first day in office, I have worked to ensure that illegal gambling laws are enforced consistently across the state.”

Officials said gambling machine manufacturers removed their machines from the state in 2011 but, when VictoryLand  reopened last year, they brought in machines that state law enforcement determined were illegal.

Strange said, “Unfortunately, the VictoryLand casino was operating in open defiance of the rule of law and we have been left with no alternative but to treat this as we would any other law enforcement matter.”

Strange called upon he state legislature to act toward making an “effective deterrent” for illegal gambling, or the activity would continue.

“These individuals stand to make millions of dollars in illegal gambling profits while risking only a slap-on-the-wrist misdemeanor charge. Law enforcement will continue to be forced to expend valuable resources to deal with the growing problem. The Legislature must change that weakness in our law and create a badly needed deterrent for large scale illegal gambling by increasing the penalty for operating an illegal slot machine casino to a felony,” Strange said.