Convenience store owners arrested on organized crime charges
Published 11:29 am Tuesday, April 10, 2018
- An iinvestigator from the Smith County Sheriff's Office removes an illegal gaming machine from the Express Beer and Wine store. Officials served warrants and conducted a raid at the Minute Stop Convenience Store and Express Beer and Wine in the 11800 block of Texas State Highway 64 on Thursday Feb. 8, 2018 in Tyler, Texas. (LouAnna Campbell/Tyler Morning Telegraph)
The owners of two suspected illegal gambling establishments in Smith County were arrested this week on organized crime charges.
Dilshad Ali, 58, and Salim Abdul Hussain, 65, both of Tyler, are the owners of the Minute Stop convenience store and the Express Beer and Wine in the 11800 block of Texas Highway 64 West.
The stores were raided on Feb. 8 after investigators obtained warrants to seize the gaming machines.
Authorities also raided their residence in the 600 block of West Heritage Drive, where investigators believed the couple kept records of the gaming activities.
Ali and Hussain were arrested Feb. 8 and charged with keeping a gambling place, gambling promotion and possession of gambling equipment. They each posted $150,000 bonds and were released.
Now, with Monday’s arrest, they face felony charges for engaging in organized criminal activity.
Ali and Hussain were booked into the Smith County Jail shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday, according to jail records. They each posted their $22,500 bonds and were released.
This is the second arrest this month in the ongoing investigation into gaming operations on Highway 64.
On April 5, a 39-year-old Tyler woman was arrested at an alleged illegal gaming facility across the road from the Minute Stop in the 11800 block of Texas Highway 64 East in Smith County, according to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office.
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