TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested three men over the alleged operation of an illegal slot parlor in the Kabukicho red-light district, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 26).
On May 23, police arrested Yoshihiro Shiota, the 39-year-old manager of the illegal parlor Pac-Man, along with two male employees.
All three suspects have admitted to the allegations.
Operating out of a second-floor room in a multi-tenant building, the parlor was disguised as a standard bar to evade detection.
Inside, however, police found 40 pachi suro (pachinko slot) machines, including illegally modified devices known in the underworld as ura-mono (underground machines) designed to manipulate payouts.
Strict secrecy
According to investigators, the illegal operation generated an estimated 330 million yen in revenue over a 13-month period.
The establishment operated with strict secrecy. Customers were funneled to the parlor by street touts or through referrals from regular patrons. Staff rigidly screened all visitors via surveillance cameras before unlocking the doors to grant entry.
Once inside, gamblers could select betting rates of 20, 40 or 100 yen per point, with the house paying out illegal cash rewards based on their slot performance.
During the raid, officers also arrested nine male customers, ranging in age from their 20s to 60s, on suspicion of gambling. The patrons have since been released.
Police are continuing to investigate the true extent of the management structure and are tracing the flow of the illicit profits, which are routinely funneled into the hands of organized crime syndicates.
