Illegal Melbourne casino for high-end rollers busted in Truganina with police alleging it is linked to organised crime

Police have arrested 21 people and seized cash, drugs, alcohol, gaming tables and equipment after uncovering an alleged high-end illegal casino operating out of a Melbourne factory.

A minimum $8000 was needed to buy in at the Truganina operation, which is said to have been hosting up to 50 players a night without a licence.

An unlicensed bar was serving alcohol, while police say punters were also carrying drugs inside the premises.

Officers with sniffer dogs backed by the force’s drone unit and Gaming and Casino Control Commission staff raided the factory on Thursday night, seizing narcotics and cash.

A 35-year-old Truganina man, the alleged operator, is expected to be charged on summons with conducting unauthorised gambling, advertising unauthorised gambling and selling and storing liquor without a licence.

Twenty alleged players are expected to be charged with being inside an unauthorised gambling premises, consuming liquor on unlicensed premises and drug possession offences.

A minimum $8000 was needed to buy in at the Truganina operation, which is said to have been hosting up to 50 players a night without a licence.

‘When significant quantities of cash are seized from organised crime syndicates, we know this deals a hammer blow to their ability to fund further illegal activity,’ Inspector Scott Colson said.

‘We’ve put a stop to a large amount of money ending up in the hands of the wrong people, which could have then been used for further criminal offending in the community.’

Conducting unauthorised gambling in Victoria carries a penalty of two years jail or a $192,000 fine.