Illegal casino discovered behind a slatted wall in Berlin

A few days ago, employees of the public order office accidentally discovered an illegal gambling hall in the Berlin district of Neukölln. The officers were actually busy enforcing parking violations. However, they noticed several people who had disappeared without a trace behind a wooden wall in a pub. After reinforcements were called in, the noses of the public order office discovered a fully-fledged "backroom casino".

The current case from Berlin is reminiscent of a case from October 2022 in which the Düsseldorf public order service discovered a brothel with a casino. On Monday, February 3, 2025, employees of the Neukölln public order office were in Harzer Straße when they noticed several people walking into a bar and then disappearing without a trace behind a wooden wall. The public order officers then spared the parking offenders in Neukölln and turned their attention to the dubious pub in Harzer Straße. It turned out that the officials had exactly the right nose in this case.

Illegal arcade found behind a wooden wall

The employees set out to find the people who had disappeared from the pub. They went into the pub and initially found nothing suspicious. However, further investigations on site led to a wooden slatted wall becoming the focus of interest. A short time later, the officers noticed a secret door on the wooden wall and were astonished to discover a fully equipped casino with its own bar behind it.

The illegal "backroom casino" contained a total of nine slot machines, all of which were in operation. There was also a small bar where drinks were served to thirsty gamblers. A short time later, the experts from the State Office of Criminal Investigation for Commercial Offenses arrived to investigate and then remove the illegal gaming machines. As the investigation continues, the LKA investigators must now find out how much tax damage has been caused and who was responsible for operating the illegal casino in Neukölln. As recently as last summer, we reported on GambleJoe that criminals are profiting from the declining turnover in legal gambling halls.

A spokeswoman for the Berlin police, Susann Barahona Munoz, confirmed the incident when asked by B.Z.:

"An investigation has been launched on suspicion of organizing illegal gambling".

B.Z. reported on the "backroom casino" and even published interesting pictures of the location and the secret slatwall.

Source of the picture: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/bar-getränke-alkohol-kühlschrank-926256/