Collier County investigators arrest 10 for illegal gambling at businesses

Investigators say illegal activity took place at multiple businesses in Collier County — illegal gambling.

Collier County Sheriff’s Office arrested 10 suspects for being involved in an illegal betting game called Bolito, a lottery that has bets placed on an unpredictable number.

We went to three businesses in Collier County Monday, where investigators uncovered these illegal gambling operations.

One of the accused businesses is disguised as an appliance store on the outside, but a nearby business owner says he never saw anyone leave with an appliance.

And right down the road, lottery tickets based off the New York Lottery were also sold under disguise at a print shop.

Workers nearby said there was a lot of unusual traffic at that business. One of them told us a lot people asked them where to find the printing place when they visit the area, but they didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary.

“I’m like shocked they were even involved in any type of something illegal,” Yasmini Avila said.

We also stopped by a barbershop, where undercover officers said it had an office in the back where they found Bolito tickets.

Workers at the next-door grocery store said they would hear people playing the game, and fighting could be heard when people didn’t get their money.

Undercover officers went to all these places on many different occasions over this past year. Many times they actually would pretend they were playing, and that is how they would catch them in the act.