Columbia police say a months-long undercover investigation into illegal gambling machines across the city ended this week with 13 arrests, more than $1.3 million in cash seized, and a disturbing detail: officers reported observing gambling payouts involving children believed to be as young as 9 or 10 years old.
The Columbia Police Department’s Investigations Division served 22 search warrants at 20 businesses and two residences across the city on August 25, according to Columbia Police Department, Tennessee. Officers entered 50 businesses throughout Columbia as part of the sweep, seizing 144 gambling machines, $1,328,269 in cash, and more than 100 pounds of kratom and THCA. Investigators also identified two residences in Columbia and Gallatin used to house proceeds connected to the illegal gambling activity.
An Investigation Rooted in Resident Complaints
The case began in July 2026 after the police department and the mayor’s office received multiple complaints from residents and business owners about suspected illegal gambling activity around the city. Undercover officers subsequently identified 20 businesses conducting illegal gambling and paying out winnings from gambling machines, and investigators say they spent weeks gathering evidence and identifying illegal activity before moving on the warrants.
Columbia Police Chief Jeremy Haywood described the investigation as lengthy and complex. Investigators also noted increased drug activity at the locations under scrutiny, adding another layer to what began as a gambling-focused probe.
Cash Trail Stretched to Gallatin
Search warrants were carried out at addresses across Columbia, including 1390 D Hampshire Pike, 1000 South Main Street, 1202 South James Campbell Boulevard Suite 8A, 1411 Trotwood Avenue, 400 South James Campbell Boulevard, 703 Trotwood Avenue, 1005 Carmack Boulevard, 235 East James Campbell Boulevard, 1515 Nashville Highway, 1000 Carmack Boulevard, 500 North High Street, 101 Santa Fe Pike, 5000 Trotwood Avenue, 818 Hatcher Lane, 1533 Bear Creek Pike, 511 North Garden Street, 2585 Nashville Highway, 1800 Carmack Boulevard, 504 South James Campbell Boulevard, and 1300 Hatcher Lane Suite 4. Two residential locations tied to cash proceeds were also searched, one in Columbia and one in Gallatin, a city in Sumner County roughly 75 to 80 miles northeast of Columbia that illustrates how far the alleged cash network reached, according to Sumner County Source.
The operation drew on an unusually wide roster of agencies: the Internal Revenue Service, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Portland Police Department, the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the 22nd Judicial Drug Task Force, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Gallatin Police Department all took part alongside Columbia police. City Manager Tony Massey said the operation required an extraordinary level of coordination among the participating agencies.
City Leaders Praise Effort, Anticipate More Charges
Mayor Chaz Molder commended the Columbia Police Department’s efforts, saying the operation culminated a months-long investigation into illegal gambling activities in the city. He said he anticipates successful prosecution of the cases in the criminal justice system. Investigators say additional indictments are expected and that the investigation remains ongoing, leaving open questions about the identities of all 13 people arrested and the precise federal charges that may follow from the IRS and ICE involvement.
Tennessee’s Broader Crackdown on Illegal Gaming
The Columbia raids land amid a wider state effort to choke off unlicensed gambling. Under Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-17-504, operating or participating in a gambling enterprise involving two or more people is charged as aggravated gambling promotion, a Class E felony carrying one to six years in prison, while simple possession of a gambling device under § 39-17-505 is a Class B misdemeanor, according to FindLaw. State law under § 39-17-501 confines legal wagering to the state lottery, licensed sports betting apps, and approved charitable events, leaving commercial casinos and cash-paying slot or video poker machines entirely off-limits.
The bust also follows two other major 2026 state actions cited as context for the seized inventory. In May, Governor Bill Lee signed legislation making Tennessee the seventh state to ban dual-currency sweepstakes platforms and machine-simulated gambling, according to Yogonet, months after Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sent cease-and-desist letters to nearly 40 unlicensed online sweepstakes operators warning that dual-currency payouts violate the state constitution’s ban on illegal lotteries. Separately, a new statewide ban on kratom and its active alkaloids known as Matthew Davenport’s Law took effect July 1, reclassifying the plant as a controlled substance, while a hemp law that took effect January 1 shifted oversight of THCA products to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission with stricter licensing rules.
Not Columbia’s First Brush With Illegal Machines
Columbia has confronted illegal electronic gaming before, though never at this scale. In August 2022, city police shut down a smaller operation after a search warrant turned up video poker machines running inside a residential property on 7th Avenue, a fraction of the size of this week’s 22-warrant sweep. The tactic of embedding undercover officers to expose covert storefront casinos has also worked elsewhere in Middle Tennessee: in July 2025, Murfreesboro police shut down a West Burton Street business operating as a full-scale casino behind blacked-out windows, arresting two operators on felony aggravated gambling promotion charges after a two-month investigation, Hoodline’s earlier Murfreesboro report noted.
Columbia, the Maury County seat known locally as Muletown, had an estimated population of 48,885 as of a 2024 special census, up from 41,690 in 2020, making it one of the fastest-growing municipal hubs in Middle Tennessee. That growth has expanded the commercial corridors where the 50 inspected businesses operated, adding scale to a case that officials say is far from finished.
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