Card players dealt $5,000 in COVID fines in Surrey

A group of 13 gamblers have been dealt COVID-related tickets after police found them playing cards without masks in Whalley, the downtown district of Surrey, B.C.

Surrey RCMPissued 14 tickets to a group of people gamblingat a local business Friday night,totalling just over $5,000 in fines.

Thirteen attendees were each issued violation tickets of$230 for attending a non-compliant event, and the host was issued an additional fine of$2,300 for organizingtheevent.

Police say theyattended a business in the 13500-block of 105A Avenue for acompliance check Friday around 9 p.m.

Surrey RCMP Sgt.Elenore Sturko says when the officersknocked on the door, they observed multiple individuals leaving the business through the back door.

Through further investigation, officers noted additional people inside the business playing cards without masks.

"It was evident that this was a full house of non-compliant individuals," says Sturko."We are not bluffing when we say we intend to enforcement the public health orders."

Do not roll the dice and turn your health into a game of chance, follow the B.C. provincial public health orders, she added.