PHOENIX -- The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said it served 44 search warrants on Tuesday in a two-year-long undercover operation designed to break up an international gambling ring based in Phoenix.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in "Operation High Stakes," undercover deputies successfully penetrated four separate but loosely connected groups working out of various homes and businesses in the Valley that used Internet-based betting sites to take illegal gambling bets online or via toll free telephone numbers.

Arpaio said that while most bets were made online through Costa Rica-based betting sites, the payouts and collections occurred in local Phoenix bars and restaurants throughout the Valley.

"Millions of dollars were being collected, sometimes extorted from people here who placed bets through these illegal gambling operations," Arpaio said. "If someone couldn't pay their debts, interest rates as high as 51 percent were levied."

Arpaio said that large amounts of cocaine were also flowing through these gambling syndicates.

"Some people were even forced to give up their homes and their retirements to pay off the organizations' loan sharks," Arpaio said.

At a news conference, Arpaio told reporters that 44 search warrants were simultaneously executed Tuesday morning, including a number of private residences, businesses, even private vaults.

At the same time, search warrants were also being conducted in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, Arpaio said.

Arpaio said the investigation, conducted with the assistance of Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard's Office, will freeze 120 local bank accounts, as well as place racketeering liens on several homes and businesses.

Arpaio said 40 suspects who were responsible for the day-to-day operations of these organizations, including bookies, collectors, loan sharks and Web site owners, have been identified.

So far, numerous arrests have been made and more are anticipated, Arpaio said.

Hundreds of bettors have also been identified through the investigation and they will likely be contacted and arrested by sheriff's deputies, Arpaio said.