VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — An Ormond Beach internet café has been raided by Volusia County deputies following allegations of illegal gambling.
The search warrant was served at round 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Hot Spot Café on Hand Avenue, deputies said.
"What you have with these internet cafes is they are parasites," said Volusia County police Chief Mike Chitwood.
Investigators told Channel 9's Mike Springer that they seized machines and nearly $10,000 in cash from the cafe before shutting it down.
Chitwood said during his two-month investigation of the business, it cleared more than $600,000.
"There's winning tickets on the wall that show payments from $50 to $1,500, so it's gambling," Chitwood said.
Several customers showed up Tuesday to play inside the cafe.
"I'm disabled. I got heart problems, medical problems. I don't work, so this gives me something to do," said Steven Hodge.
Chitwood said the illegal internet cafe busts tie up a lot of money and manpower and few cases are prosecuted.
"There is absolutely the chance that we just spun our wheels here for two months to have a big splash and news story today and they will stay up and running," Chitwood said.
Deputies are giving cease and desist order to the other internet cafes in the county. Chitwood warns those businesses could be shutdown too.
"If you were smart, you'd pull out of business tonight, otherwise, this whole parade is going to be on your doorstep," Chitwood said.
Sheriff's office executing a search warrant on an Internet cafe Ormond Beach
— Mike Springer WFTV (@mspringerwftv) July 25, 2017
VCSO shuts down Internet cafe in Ormond pic.twitter.com/Lc6tlKNcyR
— Mike Springer WFTV (@mspringerwftv) July 25, 2017
Several people have arrived surprised to see the place shutdown pic.twitter.com/11E9WRy4jg
— Mike Springer WFTV (@mspringerwftv) July 25, 2017
Cox Media Group