Malaysia has been working on improving the state of its gaming industry and the process has been ongoing for many months now. The official start of the crackdown planned for some time now in Rawang came this weekend as the police managed to arrest a total of 114 people who are suspected to be managing and participating in gambling activities, among who a 10-year-old girl brought at one of the gambling dens by her parents.
Over the span of a total of seven hours the Bukit Aman and the Selangor Police Contingent Headquarters special division taking care of the gambling sector conducted a raid of some 10 facilities. They were confirmed to be in fact having gaming offerings up for grabs whereas individuals connected to their operation were also present on site. A total of 42 people of those detained were individuals overseeing the operation of the gambling locations, whereas the remaining 72 were gaming enthusiasts ranging from 18 to 59 years who were caught in the act of gambling.
As for the devices confiscated along the raid, the authorities seized some 208 slot devices, 73 simulators, and a total of RM16,808 in cash. What is striking in this situation is that there has been an underage girl present at one of the gambling locations. She had been brought there by her parents participating in gaming activities, which somehow paints the picture of the negative impact of gambling on society.
In this sense, the operations which took place this Friday and the wee hours of Saturday are considered successful, as they have reached their objective to minimize the bad influence on society related to gambling. Subjecting their 10-year-old daughter to the close influence of gaming and the overall atmosphere of a casino venue has been allowed by the management of the gambling den, further proving that regulations ought to be tightened.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, stated that the organized raid commenced following the announcement on 20th July. This is when many members of the community had the chance to give information to the authorities regarding illegal gaming dens they are aware of, propelling ahead the statewide gambling crackdown.
Gambling Crackdown Strives to Eliminate All Illegal Operations
Ever since the beginning of this operation, a total of 100 locations reported to be offering gaming in an illegal manner have been raided by the authorities and gaming devices have been seized. The police are not going to overlook any of the given tip-offs, checking every facility, which led to the satisfying results.
Jalan Bandar Rawang 3 was where the latest raid took place, as there has been a tendency of relocation of the gaming dens to markets and less suspicious venues. Other locations which have already been inspected and confirmed to host gambling activities were situated in Taman Bukit Belimbing housing estate and Taman Harmoni shophouses in Balakong. Even though for the time being the said dens are closed for business, Mr. Fuzi stated that future operation should also be prevented.
This could easily be accomplished with the help of studying the pattern of operation of every facility and cutting its way accordingly. Illegal gaming is not a small issue as it deprives the country of an economic boost which could be utilized for better purposes. When the operation is not regulated by the law, players have little to no protection in situations of conflict, whereas the revenue generated is not being reinvested in the community.
This is not beneficial for anyone except for the kingpin of the illicit organization. For the time being the operation of the raided locations is being investigated and the authorities suspect that they might have been interlinked and managed by a sole syndicate. Members of the community who have information about more dens are encouraged to share it with the authorities, as the crackdown continues. Hotlines have been set for this purpose and all signals are being taken into account, even though there have been several negative ones among the true reports.
As it is clearly stated in the Betting Act of 1953 there are gambling forms which are considered legal and those are the ones that are being conducted in licensed casino venues across the country, such as Resorts World Genting, as well as pari-mutuel horse race wagering. Lottery is also in operation after it has been regulated by the Racing (Totalizator Board) Act of 1961. The main target for businesses statewide are Chinese players willing to explore the vast opportunities provided by the Asia-Pacific region and constituting for 1/3 of the population of the country, as well as other tourists traveling to Malaysia.
