Agencies investigate Austintown Internet cafes

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

No charges have been filed in an investigation that follows warrants used to search Internet cafes still giving cash payouts in violation of state law.

Detective Jeff Solic of the Mahoning Valley Drug Task Force said officers used search warrants Thursday at the Internet Palace, 5523 Mahoning Avenue, Gold Strike Cafe, 5335 Seventy-Six Drive, next-door neighbor Club 76 on Seventy-Six Drive and a residence of one of the cafe owners in North Jackson.

This was a six-month investigation, and Solic said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Invesigation and the FBI assisted the task force in the raids.

No charges have been filed yet, but Solic said authorities “seized a mountain of evidence to determine who is involved.”

Both Austintown Internet cafes were being investigated for still giving cash payouts after the state law was changed, Solic explained.

The new law “requires no cash payouts whatsoever,” he said.

Club 76 was searched because the investigation showed it worked together with its next-door neighbor, Gold Strike.