If you've driven along South Padre Island Drive and Greenwood, you've probably noticed how packed the parking lot at the old Mo Meaux's Kitchen has been.
It turns out that the old Cajun restaurant on the 1900 block of South Padre Island Drive was converted into the Good Time Game Room that Corpus Christi Police raided on Thursday afternoon.
Officers arrested the establishment's floor attendant, 58-year-old Arleen Torres of Sinton, and the security guard, Billy Joe Gutierrez, 50, of Edinburg.
According to police, they sent undercover officers into the establishment several times to play the electronic gaming machines. During their investigation, undercover agents observed Torres working as a floor attendant, greeting patrons as they entered the establishment, approaching those who would win, and cashing out their winnings.
Meanwhile, those same officers said Gutierrez was always armed and spent his time watching over the building and its patrons.
On the day of the raid, police confiscated Gutierrez's firearm and found that the gun had an unreadable serial number. Therefore, Gutierrez was charged with unlawful carry of a firearm and tampering with identification numbers.
In the end, Torres and Gutierrez were charged with money laundering, gambling promotion, keeping a gambling place, possession of gambling devices/equipment/paraphernalia, and engaging in organized criminal activity.
Torres's bond was set at $8,500. Gutierrez's bond was set at $11,500.
Police say there could be more arrests.
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