By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The owner of an illegal gambling business in Del Rio has been arrested in Georgia,
sheriff’s office investigators here said.
Samer Safar, a resident of Jacksonville, Fla., was arrested Aug. 17, 2024, at the airport in
Atlanta, Ga., on a warrant charging him with engaging in organized criminal activity, Val
Verde County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Gina Garcia told The 830 Times earlier this month.
Garcia, who heads the sheriff’s office criminal investigations division, said VVSO Sgt. Mari0 Vargas obtained the warrant for Safar’s arrest as part of an ongoing investigation
into an illegal gambling business that was located in a north Del Rio shopping center.
Sheriff’s office investigators raided the Golden Goose Entertainment Center, located in
Suite 19 of La Villita Shopping Center, 2400 Veterans Blvd., in late July 2024.
At the time of the raid on the Golden Goose, two Del Rio residents who worked there
were arrested. Cecilia Moreno, 56, who worked as the business’ manager, host and
cashier; and Marcial G. Chavira, 48, who was employed as a security guard, were taken
into custody and each charged with the offense of engaging in organized criminal
activity, a state jail felony, Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said after the raid.
At the time, Martinez said the Golden Goose opened in early March 2024, and his
office’s investigation of alleged illegal gambling on the premises began shortly thereafter.
In court documents filed as part of the case and obtained Friday by The 830 Times,
Vargas, the lead investigator in the case, wrote he conducted two operations at the
Golden Goose in June 2024, using a law enforcement officer who entered the
establishment in an undercover capacity.
Vargas wrote, “When the UC (undercover officer) was allowed to go (into the
establishment), he witnessed multiple amusement gaming machines that are typically
used for gambling. The UC was approached by a host, later identified as Moreno, who
explained to him the rules of the establishment and how it operated.”
Vargas wrote the undercover officer “played multiple times on various machines” and
later redeemed a ticket for $96 in cash.
“The UC was able to identify multiple amusement gaming machines that were used in the
illegal commission of a crime, conducting illegal payouts. . .
During the operation, the
UC identified approximately 60 machines in total, five surveillance cameras in the
interior space of the building and an automated teller machine,” Vargas wrote.
A second undercover operation was conducted at the Golden Goose in late June 2024,
and the undercover officer again entered the establishment, played several machines and
won $153 cash, which was paid to him when he redeemed his ticket.
Vargas wrote he later identified Safar from a filing with the Texas Comptroller’s Office
for the business entity of Salah Golden Goose Inc.
After the July raid, Martinez said, “The investigation was part of a multi-agency
operation into organized criminal activity. The sheriff’s office seized several gambling
instruments, computers, documents and an ATM (automatic teller machine) and arrested
two suspects.”
Garcia after the raid said the business operated electronic gambling machines known as
eight-liners.
According to the Texas Law Library, “Eight-liner machines are electronic devices
resembling a slot machine. On these devices a person wins by matching symbols in one
of eight lines. Texas law forbids gambling devices from awarding cash prizes.”
“In the course of the raid, we seized 60 machines and 10 computer hard drives,” Garcia
said.
Vargas said the investigation into the Golden Goose operation is ongoing, and when it is
complete, he plans on presenting it to the district attorney’s office.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
