Durham deputies raid Internet sweepstakes café

DURHAM, N.C. —Durham County sheriff’s deputies said they warned the owner of an illegal Internet sweepstakes café several times before raiding the facility Thursday and shutting it down.

The owner and manager of the café, named University Business Center, were arrested following the 11 a.m. raid, and three customers inside were given misdemeanor citations for gambling.

The owner, Jin Sok So, 57, of the 2900 block of Adwoodley Place in Raleigh, and the manager, Min Jung Song, 32, of the 300 block of Cobblestone Court in Chapel Hill, were both charged with gambling, operating electronic sweepstakes and operating more than five gaming machines – all felonies.

Both were released from the Durham County jail on a $5,000 bond.

“Mr. So and his employees were warned multiple times in person by deputies that the business needed to close,” Sheriff Mike Andrews said in a statement Friday. “He was warned that we would shut the place down, make arrests, and seize money and equipment if necessary. He chose to ignore the warnings and now he is facing felony charges,”

During the raid, deputies seized 47 computers, $9,520 in cash, prescription narcotics, and hundreds of W-2G tax forms, used for reporting certain gambling winnings, with names and personal information on them. Andrews said additional investigations into the drugs and tax forms are pending.