Dragon hunters hunted: police raid illegal gambling operation near downtown Modesto
Modesto police served a search warrant at an illegal gambling operation in a small commercial complex on Scenic Drive near downtown Thursday afternoon.
The department’s Crime Reduction Team on Tuesday began investigating an anonymous complaint about illegal activity in one of the second-story suites of the complex at 614 Scenic.
Sgt. Felton Payne said the team did surveillance on the suite and saw 25 to 30 people coming and going in just a few hours.
On Thursday, officers seized three computers set up for online gaming, as well as four single arcade-style gambling games and a six-player game, Payne said.
The multiplayer game “Mystic Dragon” is like the popular fish game in which players use joysticks and buttons to kill fish and other sea creatures for credits that equate to money.
According to promotional material for the Mystic Dragon game, players can “emerge from the seas and, instead of hunting for ocean creatures, hunt for bugs, birds and dragons in the skies over forests, mountains and seascapes.”
There were two women inside the suite when officers entered, one who was there playing a game and another whom Payne described as the “gatekeeper.”
He said she would unlock a metal gate that separates the stairs from the second floor to let in customers.
There are several other units on the second floor, and Payne said officers are investigating whether they were involved or had knowledge about the operation.
Kimberly Flammini, 61, of Modesto was arrested on suspicion of owning and operating slot machines and possession of methamphetamine, both misdemeanors.
Payne said that in addition to drug activity, illegal gambling operations such as this often involve the exchange of stolen property, although none was found Thursday.
The woman allegedly gambling when officers served the warrant was briefly detained before being released.
The same complex in 2017 was the site of a prostitution sting at a massage parlor, also in a second-floor unit.
Modesto Councilman Mani Grewal owned the building at the time but sold it the following year, according to public records.
Contact information for the new owner was not available.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 9:55 AM.
