Hawaii Illegal Gambling Joint Robbed, Suspects Apprehended

Posted on: August 14, 2022, 11:14h. 

Last updated on: August 14, 2022, 04:48h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Two alleged armed robbers who held up a gaming operation in the Honolulu, Hawaii area were arrested late last week. It appears no shots were fired during the holdup on the island.

Two Honolulu police cars
Two Honolulu police cars, pictured above. The department investigated an armed robbery at an illegal casino and arrested two men last week. (Image: Wikiwand)

Honolulu police said they were able to identify the two men. They were apprehended and charged. The duo stole an unspecified amount of cash and other items from an unnamed illegal venue last Monday, according to KHON, a local TV station.

Bail was set for the two men, who both remained in custody. One was being held at $100,000 bail. The other was being held at $500,000 bail. Their cases will be turned over to a local court for possible trials.

Local news reports did not identify them or their charges. One suspect is 26. The other is 27, KHON said.

Details on the crime were not released by authorities.

Hawaii is one of two states with no form of legal wagering. Utah is the other. Proposals to allow wagering have been defeated in the state’s legislature.

Gambling, Drug Arrests

In June, three Hawaiian men were apprehended for alleged illegal gambling and drug trafficking. The two-year investigation involved 50 FBI and Maui Police Department officers.

During a search, officials said that authorities seized $68,000, 15 pounds of suspected methamphetamine (meth), seven firearms, 20 gambling machines, gambling ledgers, tablets, and a money counter.

Numerous illegal gambling rooms were discovered by authorities in Hawaii. Locations for illicit activities were identified as Sports Bar & Grill in Waianae and sites at 980 and 977 Queens Street in Honolulu. Two snack shops, one in Lahaina and the other in Wailuku, were also identified.

The seized firearms included two “ghost guns.” These are purchased online, assembled after purchase, and cannot be traced.

Other seized firearms include: a .25 caliber loaded Beretta handgun, a Winchester 12-gauge shotgun, and a Remington 20-gauge shotgun. Also recovered were 25 caliber rounds and shotgun rounds.

Maliu Tauheluhelu, 37, Maafu Pani, also 37, and Touanga Niu, 21, were arrested on June 3. A fourth suspect, Desmond Morris, 38, was named in the indictment. As of early June, he had yet to be apprehended.

Fatal Shooting

In May, a man was shot at an illegal gambling operation in Honolulu and later died. A suspect was arrested for second-degree murder for the death, KHON said.

The victim, 33, got into a fight with the male suspect, the report said. The suspect fired an unspecified number of bullets at the man. The victim soon died inside the gambling venue.

The suspect ran from the crime scene. Later, he was under arrest for an unrelated crime when he was identified by police and arrested for the shooting. The shooting took place off of Kapiolani Boulevard on the island of Oahu. It is a major commercial thoroughfare near Mamala Bay.

The suspect and victim likely knew each other before the fatal incident, police said. Police did not immediately release the names of the suspect or the victim’s name in Hawaii.