Police say organised crime gangs are increasingly moving into regional areas of NSW to launder 'dirty' money by putting hundreds of thousands of dollars through pokies in small pubs and clubs.
Authorities believe criminal gangs are using poker machines at small regional pubs and clubs to launder the proceeds of illegal drug dealing and prostitution, with tens of thousands of dollars being put into the machines in a single sitting.
While that may be done by groups of organised criminals, Mr Byrne believes there are also instances of gangs taking advantage of gambling addicts."It's the epitome of exploitation," Mr Byrne told the ABC. One involves a club in the state's south where 25 suspicious plays of more than $1,400 each were put into different machines and cashed out only minutes later.
"They're going out to Bathurst and as far west as Bourke and those areas to set up large-scale clandestine drug labs and large-scale cultivation of cannabis and some greenhouses, massive jobs involving organised crime groups."All those projects, all those crimes generate vast amounts of cash and it's got to be washed and laundered before it can be utilised by those groups."
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