Tri-county alliance begins crackdown on illegal gambling.

Gulls and vultures circled overhead Friday as Sheriff David Huffman and several deputies pushed three video poker machines off a truck and into the Catawba County Landfill.

Moments later, the huge wheels of a 500-ton compactor reduced the machines to splinters.

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The destruction of the machines was the opening volley of a new initiative to crack down on illegal gambling, Huffman said.

Huffman, along with Burke County Sheriff John McDevitt and Caldwell County Sheriff Gary Clark, announced the creation of the Tri-County Task Force on Vice and Gambling earlier this week.

The alliance will focus on eliminating poker machines that give illegal payouts.

Video poker machines are common in convenience stores and pool halls, and they’re legal - as long as they don’t pay cash for winnings and are properly registered and operated.

Huffman said the task force would seek a judge’s permission to destroy any poker machine in violation of the law.

The machines destroyed Friday weren’t properly registered, Huffman said. In addition, one of the machines had five player stations, where the law says a business can only operate three machines with one station each. The machines were seized from a residence near Alexander County, investigators said.

Huffman said the machines create social problems because some players become addicted.

Source: Josh Yoder, Hickory Daily Record