State gaming agents and local officers swept through several Cambridge locations this week, taking about 146 suspected illegal slot machines out of action in what authorities describe as a coordinated strike on unlicensed gambling in Guernsey County.
Search warrants were served at multiple addresses on Highland Hill Road, Southgate Road and Oxford Avenue, where investigators say they found slot-style setups allegedly offering cash payouts without proper licenses. In addition to disabling or removing the machines, officers collected an undisclosed amount of cash, which is now part of the ongoing investigation.
The crackdown followed complaints about the businesses, according to The Daily Jeffersonian. That outlet reports that agents either seized or disabled roughly 146 machines during the coordinated operation. Authorities have not announced any arrests or filed formal charges yet as they continue to sort through evidence.
"Illegal casinos harm communities and Ohioans that live in and contribute to those communities," Andromeda Morrison, the Ohio Casino Control Commission’s general counsel and director of skill games, said in a statement, underscoring both public safety and economic concerns. The commission said it plans to pursue follow-up enforcement where needed and will share more information as the case develops, per The Daily Jeffersonian.
Part of a wider enforcement push
This is not a one-off effort. The Ohio Casino Control Commission has been rolling out similar crackdowns across the state, including an operation in Akron earlier this spring where agents disabled 27 suspected illegal machines, according to Cleveland 19.
The agency’s own annual report details regular enforcement actions and repeated seizures of equipment from alleged unlicensed gambling operations, highlighting a months-long push to shut down locations offering cash payouts outside the regulated casino system, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission annual report.
What the law says
Under Ohio law, the commission is authorized to investigate suspected violations of casino and gaming statutes and to seize equipment tied to those violations. Operators who run illegal gambling houses or unlicensed casino-style operations can face criminal charges and civil penalties, per Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3772. The statute also allows the commission to team up with local law enforcement to execute warrants and remove illegal gambling devices.
The Cambridge investigation remains active, and officials have not yet put a dollar figure on the value of the machines or cash removed. Authorities are asking anyone with information about suspected illegal gambling in the area to contact the Cambridge Police Department or the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office.
