Blairsville, Helen & Villa Rica, GA – As result of the ongoing investigations by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation into illegal gambling involving Internet Cafes,  search warrants have been executed at Internet Cafes in Blairsville, Helen and in Villa Rica.

Today, GBI Agents with the West Metro Regional Drug Enforcement Office executed a search warrant at the Lucky Numbers Internet Sweepstakes Café 131 Carden Lane, Villa Rica, Carroll County, Georgia. The search warrant was the result of a 1 month undercover investigation conducted by the GBI.  Agents seized flash drives from each of the 100 computers at the location as well as the computer server through which these computers connected to the Internet.

Yesterday, GBI Agents executed search warrants at the Pots “O” Gold in Blairsville and at the Pot “O” Gold in Helen. At each of these locations 30 computers were seized along with other evidence. The Appalachian Drug Task Force was involved in this undercover investigation. Assistance in Helen was provided by the Helen Police Department and the White County Sheriff’s Office. In Blairsville, assistance was provided by the Union County Sheriff’s Office.

These undercover investigations revealed that the businesses, advertised as a “sweepstakes”, are operating outside of established Georgia law governing sweepstakes and gambling. No immediate arrests have been made in these cases.  Results from the investigations and the search warrants will be provided to each of the District Attorneys for theses jurisdictions for prosecution. 

These GBI search warrants are part of Governor Nathan Deal’s initiative to crack down on illegal gambling parlors proliferating throughout Georgia.

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Contact Information:

John Bankhead - 404-270-8330