Rio de Janeiro is a city known for beautiful festivals, beaches, street crime, corruption and powerful drug cartels. Recently, officials warned of a new threat, claw machines.
Police in the city executed 16 search warrants during the week of Aug. 25, targeting the crane games. They said these machines are actually games of chance, similar to slot machines. Therefore, they are illegal under Brazilian law.
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Officers seized not only claw machines, but also laptops, tablets, cellphones, a firearm and even the plushies inside of machines. This isn’t the first time Rio’s claw machines have come under scrutiny.
May of this year saw 80 machines taken away in a similar operation. Police found that the claws were rigged to only grab a toy after a set number of attempts, making it impossible to win.
It is suspected that organized crime may be behind the operation, as criminal groups already control forms of gambling across the city. They’ve been known to own illegal slot machines and a local lottery known as the “animal game.”
In the U.S., claw machines are considered games of chance, though they are specifically exempt from gambling laws. Owners do need to follow certain rules laid out, which can vary from state to state.
As authorities in the Brazilian city continue their investigation into the machines, it’s clear that even something which may seem harmless, like a claw machine, could have a darker side.
