1,500 Slot Machines Seized in Mexico Raids

11 casinos around Monterrey raided following deadly arson
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 28, 2011 7:21 AM CDT
1,500 Slot Machines Seized in Mexico Raids
A makeshift memorial of funeral wreaths line the circular driveway of the Casino Royale in Monterrey, Mexico, Saturday Aug, 27, 2011. A surveillance tape showed eight or nine men arriving in four cars Thursday at the gambling house and setting fire to the building; trapping dozens of people inside and...   (AP Photo/Hans-Maximo Musielik)

About 700 soldiers, police, and Treasury agents seized 1,500 slot machines from 11 casinos around Monterrey, Mexico, in the wake of Thursday's attack on a local casino that killed 52 people, reports the AP. Authorities did not link the raids to Thursday's attack, but instead said they were part of more general gambling and tax investigations. While drug cartels are known to extort casinos, a spokesman for the torched casino denied having received any extortion threats, despite two previous attacks on the location.

Meanwhile, the Mexican army said it was deploying 1,500 soldiers to the region, and federal police are sending 1,500 officers and Blackhawk helicopters in a bid to increase security in the northern city of 4 million people. (More Monterrey, Mexico stories.)

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