In what sounds more like the plot to a movie or a best selling crime novel, Federal authorities announced last week that they broke up a sprawling international casino card-cheating scheme led by a San Diego organized-crime family that netted its members at least $3.3 million over five years.

In an article in their Friday edition the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that 19 members of the Tran Organization had been indicted on racketeering, money laundering and conspiracy charges. The cheating operation used a combination of modern technology using cell phones and computers along with bribing and training dealers to help implement the scheme.

The group scammed 18 casinos in seven States and Canada over a five year period netting more than 3.3 million dollars. The bribed dealers would execute a false shuffling and the members of the ring would track the cards and place large bets when certain cards were being dealt. The Union-Tribune published a complete overview of the cheating scheme on their website