Greenwood police, acting on a tip, have seized two illegal gaming machines from a recently opened convenience store and arrested one of its owners.
When officers executed a search warrant Friday, they found two video poker machines located in a back room of Greenland Market No. 2 at 705 W. Henry St., said Acting Police Chief Ray Moore.
At that time, police arrested one of the store’s owners, Muammar M. Elzofri, 47, and charged him with two counts of illegal possession of gaming machines.
Elzofri was released on bond.
Greenland Market No. 2, which opened in late February, is owned by Elzofri, his brother, Salah Elzofri, and brother-in-law, Abdulsalm Alkbsh.
The three men also operate Greenland Market No. 1 in Lambert, which is in Quitman County.
Moore said police had gotten reports since early March that the convenience store had gambling machines.
Moore said Elzofri faces a maximum of up to $500 and three months in jail for each machine if convicted of the first-time offense.
After the seized machines are presented as evidence in court, they will be destroyed, Moore said.
The city is prepared to crack down on illegal gaming machines wherever they might be, the chief said.
“If we get information that someone has them in their business or residence, we’re coming after them.”
He said unlike casino gaming machines, which are regulated by the state, the illegal gaming machines typically found in stores and nightclubs rarely pay off.
The machines hit low-income residents the hardest, Moore said.
“The ones they hurt the most are the ones that can least afford it. ... Anybody having these types of machines, they’re not doing anything but ripping off the people that are playing.”
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
