HONOLULU (KHON2) — New data from the Honolulu Police Department shows that the number of operational illegal game rooms has gone down between 2024 and 2025, with a projected 70 game rooms for this year compared to the 160 game rooms last year.
This comes as a result of the enforcement strategy conducted by HPD, the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office, Department of Planning and Permitting, Homeland Security Investigations and local lawmakers.
Authorities say their new approach creates a stronger and stricter enforcement.
“HPD’s Narcotics/Vice Division no longer has to act alone in this effort. With this collaboration, we’ve adopted a more aggressive and coordinated approach to enforcement,” the division’s Acting Major Jerome Pacarro said. “This unified effort enables us not only to dismantle illegal game room operations, but also to hold property owners accountable for knowingly allowing such activity on their premises.”
Major Paul Okamoto from the HPD Legislative Liaison Office says the new programs have expanded the ability to enforce gambling busts that were once difficult to execute.
“This makes it easier for us to do enforcement and to locate these game rooms because a lot of times these game rooms are in residential areas right next to your home, place of employment and they are really well hidden,” Okamoto said. “So it makes it difficult to identify these places and it really makes it difficult to get into these places and do enforcement.”
HPD urges those who see anything suspicious related to any illegal game room activities to contact the 24-hour Narcotics/Vice Division at (808) 723-3933 or fill out their online form.