SARAH HARVEY AND ROB KIDD
GRAHAME COX/Fairfax NZ
SCENE SEARCH: Police examine the Mt Roskill house where five gunmen stormed a card game.
A suspected Asian gambling den in Auckland was robbed of thousands of dollars by five masked men on Friday morning.?
A dog was shot, a man assaulted with the butt of a rifle and five others left traumatised after the violent home invasion in Mt Roskill.
Police say it was not a far-fetched proposition that criminals had got wind of the group gambling large amounts of money and had forced their way in.?
Two women and four men were playing cards in a Duke St house about 12.45am yesterday when five men with their faces covered, and wearing gloves, burst through the front and back doors and threatened them, Auckland police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty said.
The attackers had three firearms, a hammer and a spade between them.
One of the men at the house was assaulted and had to be hospitalised, however his injuries are not thought to be serious.?
A Collie dog at the house was also shot, but is expected to live.
The attackers stole thousands of dollars in cash, jewellery and a car from the premises.
The car, a black 2003 Toyota Camry saloon with the licence plate FFB616, has not been found.
Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Cahill, of Auckland Metro Crime and Operations Support, said illegal gambling that dealt in ''hard cash'' left people wide open to targeting by criminals.
''For the criminals it's easier than robbing a bank and it might be a lot more lucrative."
According to the Internal Affairs Department, any gambling at an unlicensed property is illegal if the total prize or turnover is more than $500.
Illegal casinos in Wellington and Auckland were closed down in 2004 and 2005 and participants fined between $5000 and $12,000.
Most recent prosecutions for illegal gambling have involved activity in the gaming machine sector and casinos.
A woman who lives four doors down from the house, and has lived there for about 50 years, claimed the property was a well known gambling den.
Mary Magee said a friend of hers, selling calendars for the local church, had visited there late last year ''and he took notice of all the money on the table and put two and two together''.
The retiree said mainly Thai men would visit the house between Thursday and Sunday and wouldn't leave until around 2am.
''Cars would be parked up on both sides of the street ... one weekend a whole mini-van of them turned up,'' she said.?
Detective Sergeant Rick Veacock said although the offenders were wearing gloves and had their faces covered, they had been described by the victims as Maori or Polynesian.
''I don't believe this was a random act, given the amount of planning the offenders would have done in terms of disguising and arming themselves.
"The fact that these offenders were prepared to discharge a firearm at the dog is very worrying and we need to locate them as soon as possible before anyone else gets hurt.''
Hegarty said not all of the victims lived at the house, but they were all from Auckland.
Despite the rumours of illegal gambling she said she was not aware of any concerns about the legitimacy of activities at the Duke St property.
- ? Fairfax NZ News
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/7900069/Illegal-gamblers-targeted-by-gunmen
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