The following was released by Newton County Constable Howie Wonders concerning a gambling and money laundering operation.
Friday evening (05/19/2023), the Newton County Pct. 4 Constable’s Office (NCC04) teamed up with Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Jasper and Galveston County Sheriff’s Offices as well as Texas DPS Criminal Investigations Division and the Texas Comptrollers Criminal Investigations Division, in the execution of one of the largest gambling and money laundering investigations ever conducted in East Texas.
This investigation began in February of 2022 when Constable Howie Wonders agreed to officially enter into a combined effort with the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office by providing an undercover officer from his agency with extensive knowledge and expertise in covert law enforcement operations as well as the specific subject matter of the investigation.
The investigation would grow to become a joint endeavor by the Newton County Pct. 4 Constable’s Office as well as the Sabine, San Augustine, and Shelby County Sheriff’s Offices. These law enforcement agencies combined to form the ‘273rd Judicial Organized Crime Task Force’ (273 JOCTF).
After 15 months of solid undercover investigations, we are proud to announce that with the assistance of several local and state law enforcement agencies, the 273 JOTCF successfully executed 37 search warrants across 8 Texas counties Friday evening (05/19/2023) spanning from Tenaha in Shelby County, TX all the way down to Bacliff in Galveston County, TX.
Criminal charges originated from illegal gambling operations that were laundering millions of dollars locally as well as internationally.
This is an ongoing investigation with criminal charges as well as civil forfeitures pending for various violations to include but not necessarily limited to: Money Laundering, Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity, Illegal Gambling, Keeping a Gambling Place, Promotion of Gambling, Possession of Gambling Devices, and numerous narcotics violations.
Although there are too many to name, on behalf of the 273rd Judicial Organized Crime Task Force, Constable Howie Wonders would like to sincerely thank all local and state law enforcement agencies that assisted with this operation. We could not have done this without them.
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