Cambodian police have acted more forcefully to cease the operation of 10,000 illegal online gambling platforms and arrested more than 200 people over the past month, National Police officials confirmed.
At the time he took part in a press conference regarding the Cambodian Ministry of Interior’s achievements over the past five years, National Police spokesman Lieutenant General Chhay Kim Khoeun explained that the competent authorities had completed raids over more than 10,000 suspected illegal gambling operations based around the world. He further noted that the local police authorities also enforced the law at 127 locations in 11 provincial capitals and other parts of the country, with their actions eventually sending more than 270 people to court.
Lieutenant General Chhay Kim Khoeun revealed that Cambodian police forces raided the suspected locations and took legal action against 127 locations in the period from September 15th to October 13th, 2022. As he announced, the police authorities have collected enough evidence to send 273 people to court and build a case against them, including 56 foreigners of 11 nationalities.
The spokesman of the National Police further explained that the other locations that were suspected of facilitating illegal gambling did not have enough concrete evidence to build the case in court. Still, the competent authorities instructed the owners of the establishments and made them sign a contract under which they were suspended from engaging in gambling activities.
Cambodian Government Recently Ordered Current Gambling Crackdown
Heng Kim Hong, who heads Cambodian Youth Network Association’s Research and Advocacy Program, explained that the current crackdown on illegal gambling in the country was ordered by the Government and followed its guidelines.
The Research ad Advocacy Program’s boss further noted there had been a law governing the Cambodian gambling sector for a long time, however, the local authorities had not been willing to impose stricter measures on the industry and tackle the illegal gambling operations that had been taking place across the country. Now, he believes that the competent authorities in the country need to fully implement the law in order to ensure effective prevention against illegal gambling, especially by finally bringing justice to the leaders of so-called illegal gambling rings.
The country’s Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has recently unveiled strict enforcement measures as part of the Government’s efforts to put an end to illegal gambling nationwide that had been previously described as “anarchic”. He also warned that officials who fail to stay in line with his instructions would face serious penalties and reprimands.
As CasinoGamesPro previously reported, in September 2022, Prime Minister Hun Sen issued an absolute order for governors of Cambodian provinces, districts, cities, grassroots officials and chiefs of military police and regular police forces to issue stricter measures against various gambling businesses that have been operating illegally across the country. At the time, he warned that the aforementioned officials would be removed from their roles in case they failed to comply, especially considering the fact that they have so far been quite passive in taking any kind of regulatory action to tackle illegal gambling in Cambodia.
