Illegal gambling ‘casitas’ rake in millions across SoCal

There is no shortage of legal gambling establishments in Southern California. There also is no shortage of illegal venues, according to the LA County Sheriff’s Department. So-called “casitas” — Spanish for little houses — number in the hundreds potentially. They operate in the back rooms of stores, warehouses, or even residential homes. They can allegedly bring in tens of thousands of dollars a week for their operators, not to mention money to those who oversee and tax them — the Mexican mafia.