According to authorities, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier were arrested Thursday along with over 30 others in connection to two criminal cases. These cases allege schemes to generate millions of dollars through rigged sports bets and poker games involving Mafia families. Billups was charged with conspiring to fix high-stakes card games, while Rozier was accused of a separate scheme using confidential information to create fraudulent bets. Former NBA assistant coach Damon Jones was also arrested and is charged with participating in both schemes.
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Federal authorities announced charges against Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and dozens of others Thursday as part of a wide-ranging investigation into illegal sports gambling and poker rigging schemes allegedly backed by the Mafia. The investigation, dubbed “Operation Nothing But Bet” and “Operation Royal Flush,” revealed that Rozier was involved in an insider sports betting scheme, while Billups was implicated in a plot to rig underground poker games. The schemes involved the use of high-tech cheating gadgets and the exploitation of confidential information to allegedly defraud participants. The NBA has placed Rozier and Billups on immediate leave as they address these allegations.
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Recent investigations reveal a clandestine arms trade involving the smuggling of unmarked Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition from Russian state-owned factories into Italy. These weapons, produced between 2010 and 2020, are transported via sea routes through Sicilian ports, potentially utilizing the Russian shadow fleet. Italian mafia groups, particularly those in Catania, are the recipients of these arms, with caches discovered in various neighborhoods. Europol and other sources suggest that the export of these unmarked weapons is likely sanctioned by Russian government entities, with the weapons often concealed within shipments of oil or fuel.
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A recently uncovered contract reveals a significant business partnership between Camorra drug boss Raffaele Imperiale and Dubai’s sheik Marwan al Maktoum. The 2015 agreement involved the development of luxury villas on Palm Jumeirah, with Imperiale, even while a wanted fugitive, acting through a shell company. Al Maktoum held majority shares in the venture until 2018, highlighting Dubai’s history as a haven for illicit funds. Imperiale’s arrest in Dubai in 2021 and subsequent cooperation with authorities followed years of operating in the city.
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John Q. Hosedrinker