Alleged poker ring inside B.C. cafe leads to charges against 4 men

Four men are facing charges after police say they broke up a gambling ring in Metro Vancouver.

The illegal gambling team linked to B.C.'s specialized anti-gang unit said Thursdayit investigated a suspected gaming house earlier this year and served a search warrant in July at Big Shots Cafe in Burnaby.

A statement from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit says several people were taking part in what appeared to be illegal gaming.

Items such as poker tables, slot machines, cash, poker chips and playing cards were seized during the raid on July 4.

Francisco Batista Pires, 57, Andrew David MacFarlane, 36, Richard William Kosterman, 58, and Jay Arnold Damian Franco, 40, are now charged with being in a common gaming or betting house. Pires and MacFarlane are from Burnaby, Kosterman is from Delta and Franco is from New Westminster.

Court records show all four are scheduled to return to provincial court in Vancouver on Friday and again on Jan. 6, 2021.

Sgt. Brenda Winpenny saidin the statement that it is a criminal offence to take part in unauthorized gambling in B.C.

"Illegal gaming, and the locations that allow them, have been the root of other criminal offences that impact the safety of the public," Winpenny said.