Brooklyn raids target alleged sports betting

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A weekend operation to purge the New York borough of Brooklyn of alleged mob-linked illegal sports gambling netted 11 arrests, Brooklyn's district attorney announced Sunday.

A task force of more than 75 law enforcement officers raided 13 locations on Saturday as part of Operation Kings Flush, a 16-month operation. Police seized $40,000 in cash, betting slips worth more than $90,000, calculators, computers, recording machines and telephones.

District Attorney Charles Hynes said the investigation focused on members of the Califano crime family of Brooklyn.

Officers conducted the raid in advance of the January 28 staging of the Super Bowl, one of the nation's most popular annual sporting events on which to wager.

"We did it to take the Califanos off guard," Hynes said. "We surprised them substantially."

The district attorney's office alleges the Califano organization handled $30 million a year in illegal bets, a fraction of the estimated $15 billion in illegal gambling generated each year in New York.

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Reputed bosses of New Jersey crime family indicted
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Brooklyn District Attorney Office

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