Facebook groups where people play bingo and pull-tabs illegally for cash have proliferated during the pandemic. The State of Alaska is turning its attention to these groups, sending letters to cease and desist.
In early March, someone in a community near Bethel received a letter from the state gaming manager. It ordered them to stop conducting illegal gambling on Facebook, and to turn in their gaming equipment and records to the state.
The person who received that letter, startled, contacted Anna Bill, who was a tribal police officer in Mountain Village at the time.
“They asked me to take a look at it,” Bill said. “And they were concerned about it.”
