Miami police arrested six men and confiscated 10 "maquinitas" -- or slot machines -- in a raid Thursday, just a week after Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill outlawing such gambling machines.
The raid of Miami mini-marts and gas stations was seen as a real about-face for Mayor Tomás Regalado, who initiated an ordinance that would require licenses for maquinitas when he came into office, reports the Naked Politics Blog.
While police raided small business Thursday, Regalado appeared at a public event in which 48 slot machines were crushed by bulldozers at the city's Solid Waste Department. See the slideshow below.
"This, I think, is a visual message that the city is indeed serious about complying with the state law," said Regalado. Watch the Local 10 video above.
Arrest reports list that the following men were arrested for possession of illegal slot machines: Guillermo Schloeter, 26, Sunflex Fuel; Mavis Fernandez Martin, 36, Laundro Mat; Joao Fernandes, 25, Marathon Gas; Ayman Jadallah, 47, 5th Avenue Supermarket; Malek Brouri, 66, Food Mini Market; and Justo Lopez, 28, The Loft Cafeteria.
Miami New Times reports that police also mistakenly raided Wynwood bar Gramps.
"The only thing I can say at this time is that at around 11 a.m., many members of the Miami Police Department came into my bar while I was receiving deliveries and accused me of having illegal gambling machines," Gramps owner Adam Gersten told Riptide.
Gersten showed the cops that the only machines he had were vintage arcade games like RoboCop, Asteroids and Street Fighter.
