A third suspect has been arrested in connection with what authorities described as an illegal gambling operation in Dawson County.

Saturday night, deputies raided the Shell gas station at Hwy. 53 and Ga. 400 and the Citgo on Hwy. 9 in the Silver City community near the Forsyth County line.

Dawson County Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wooten said investigators received information that management at the stores was paying out cash winnings on poker machines.

While the coin-operated gaming machines are legal in the state, cash payouts are not.

After a more than two-month investigation, the sheriff's office executed search warrants at both convenience stores Saturday night and confiscated six coin-operated poker machines at each location, as well as several thousand dollars in cash.

Managers at each store were also taken into custody and charged with commercial gambling.

Ravikumar Kondaveeti and Avinash Kondaveeti were released on bond Sunday morning, according to the sheriff's office.

Authorities on Tuesday took Syed Shaffiuddin of Lawrenceville into custody in connection with the case.

The stores were allowed to reopen Sunday.

"We've had this happen in the past. We try to watch as close as we can," Wooten said. "We were tipped off as to what was going on."