SEARCH NEWS:

 

Loss of VLTs May Lead to Increased Drug Trade

QUEBEC – As reported by the Montreal Gazette: "Facing the prospect of losing their lucrative video lottery terminals, Quebec bar owners are being tempted by alternative sources of revenue - like a cut from drug deals on the premises.

"So says a group representing 702 bar owners targeted by the provincial government's plan to move 1,500 VLTs to racetracks, starting in November.

"Luc Tousignant, director of the Detaillants d'appareils de loterie video du Quebec, who also owns a bar in Trois Rivieres, says members of organized crime have also approached him about buying his business outright. So far, he has refused.

"…The bar owners have been up in arms since the government announced plans in May 2004 to remove VLTs from bars that had fewer than five of the devices, most of which are in small towns across the province.

"…Perhaps the bar owners' most powerful weapon, however, is the threat of bringing organized crime and drugs back into bars, after so much effort by provincial and municipal police forces to eradicate them…"

< Gaming News