CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- A coordinated commercial gambling bust in several Bartow County businesses landed five people behind bars, officials said.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, law-enforcement raided five businesses within the cities of Cartersville and White, Wednesday. During the operation, agents seized money and other evidence that the locations were running commercial gambling operations.
More than 40 agents from the GBI's Commercial Gambling Unit and the Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force simultaneously raided the following locations:
-- Sunoco at 2471 Hwy 411 in White
-- Kim's Gift Shop at 906 Joe Frank Harris Pkwy. in Cartersville
-- Red Top Food Mart at 400 Red Top Mountain Rd. in Cartersville
-- Mack's Express/Smart Mart at 1139 N. Tennessee St. in Cartersville
-- Gift Shop at 1141 N. Tennessee St. in Cartersville
The GBI said that while all of the businesses were licensed to have "Coin Operated Amusement Machines," the agency found during their investigation that customers were receiving cash payouts for winning credits.
According to Georgia law, credits are only supposed to be redeemable for lottery tickets or store merchandise.
Five people were arrested and are now charged with Felony Commercial Gambling:
-- Xaing Yun Jin, 57 of Cartersville
-- Meilan Xu, 46 of Cartersville
-- Shahid Mushtq, 44 of Cartersville
-- Luisa Tercero, 27 of Cartersville
-- Farhan Hameed, 45 of Ellijay
-- Clara Mullinax, 48 of White
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