Eleven arrested and shotgun seized in Maple Ridge gaming house probe
Police raided sites in three Metro Vancouver cities and seized more than $34,000 in cash; six of those arrested are now banned from B.C. casinos.
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Eleven people have been arrested in an investigation into a suspected illegal gaming house in Maple Ridge, B.C., police said on May 7. Investigators began looking into the operation in November, and on April 29 officers carried out search warrants in Maple Ridge, Coquitlam and Surrey.
Police said they seized a shotgun fitted with a suppressor, gambling equipment and more than $34,000 in cash.
Six of the 11 people arrested were issued provincial casino bans that took effect on April 30, police said. The bans keep them out of B.C. casinos.
All 11 were released while the investigation continues. No one had been charged as of May 7, but police said "charges are anticipated." None of those arrested has been named, and police have not said how long the operation is believed to have been running.
A run of cases
The arrests are the latest in a string of illegal gaming cases in the province. In November 2025, a 55-year-old Esquimalt man was charged with keeping a common gaming house and possessing proceeds of crime after a Saanich investigation that had led to 14 arrests in August 2024. Police said that raid turned up two poker tables, several thousand chips and about $17,000 in cash.
In January 2026, a man pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was fined $10,000 over illegal gambling at Big Shots Café in Burnaby. A 2023 raid on the café found slot machines, a gaming table and about $14,000 in cash.
Casino bans have also featured in recent fraud cases. Two Metro Vancouver residents charged in November 2025 with fraud over about $45,000 in casino transactions were released on a condition that they stay out of every casino in the province.
Keeping a common gaming house is an offence under the Criminal Code. The allegations in the Maple Ridge case have not been tested in court.