HOUSTON — On Wednesday, more than 700 law enforcement officers raided numerous locations associated with an illegal game room enterprise in Texas.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that 14 people are in custody on charges, including conspiracy, operating illegal game rooms, bribery and money laundering.

On Wednesday, law enforcement descended on 45 locations throughout the city, including 30 illegal game rooms.

Nicholas Ganjei, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, called it the largest Houston-based federal investigation into money laundering in recent years.

Ganjei called Nizar Ali the “mastermind” of the “sophisticated” operation. He said the game room enterprise had $22 million in proceeds.

Federal officials said that $4.5 million in cash, $5 million in property and vehicles, 2,000 slot machines, and $6.5 million from bank accounts were collected during the raids. They said Ali used 25 bank accounts to launder money.

Law enforcement began investigating in January 2019. During that time, Ganjei said a police officer working in his official undercover capacity posed as someone who could help Ali avoid trouble with the law.

“Ali is alleged to have protected this scheme by recruiting what he believed to be a corrupt Houston police officer, initially paying this officer $1,000 a week in protection money, but as the game room empire grew, so did these payments,” Ganjei said. “With this officer receiving $10,000, $20,000, $30,000 and even up to $40,000 in cash at each of these meetings.”

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In total, Ganjei said the officer collected more than $500,000 in payments for protection.

Ali’s employees were also taken into custody. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said he hired people to run the game rooms and help stash “bulk currency” so he could remain isolated from the operations.

Agents also found that 31 people, who investigators say were undocumented, were either patrons or hired by Ali to serve as security for the game rooms or to work at businesses that supported the criminal enterprise. They were handed over to ICE during Wednesday’s operation.

Ganjei was asked during a news conference Thursday about the implications of the game rooms for Houstonians. He did not identify any violent crime related to the operation.

“Maybe we, as the people who live in Houston, we see our community, and we see that game room on the corner, and there’s just people hanging out there all hours of the night and people doing drugs and drinking outside, prostitutes being out there on the track, that is just something we have to deal with living in Houston,” Ganjei said. “I think a case like this shows that that doesn’t have to be the case.”

So far, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says in addition to Ali, Naeem Ali, 33, and Amer Khan, 68, both of Richmond; Ishan Dhuka, 33, and Sahil Karovalia, 32, both of Rosenberg; Sarfarez Maredia, 38, and Shoaib Maredia, 40, both of Sugar Land; Yolanda Figueroa, 40, of Pasadena; Viviana Alvarado, 45, of LaPorte; and Anabel Eloisa Guevarra, 46, Precela Solis, 27, Maria Delarosa, 53, Claudia Calderon, 37, and Lucia Hernandez, 34, all of Houston have been charged.

Sayed Ali, 59, Richmond, and Stephanie Huerta, 35, are outstanding, and warrants have been issued for their arrests.