NORTH FORK – Federal agents swept into the headquarters of the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians early Tuesday, shutting down the building and serving a search warrant.
Agents spent most of the day in two buildings about 100 yards apart in the downtown of the Madera County community.
Special Agent Trey DeLaPena of the Department of the Interior would not say what agents were seeking. He referred questions to the department's office in Sacramento, where phone calls were not answered.
In September, the Department of Interior gave its go-ahead to the North Fork Rancheria for a proposed casino about four miles north of Madera. The proposal that calls for 2,500 slot machines and a 200-room hotel alongside Highway 99 still needs state approval – a process that is expected to drag well into 2012.
In its federal application, the North Fork tribe said it anticipates its casino could generate $53 million in annual revenue by the seventh year of its operation.