On 13th December, Judiciary Police raided an illegal gambling den in Macau that live-streamed baccarat games from a casino in the Philippines, local news outlet Today Macao has reported. In the process, nine people were arrested for allegedly participating in illegal gambling activities. The police seized the mobile phones and the computers used by the wrongdoers. Bookkeeping books were also confiscated. According to the police’s records, the illegal gambling den operated for at least a year, before the officers swooped down on it.
On Wednesday last week, the police arrested nine people, who were suspected to have been involved in a criminal syndicate that operates an illegal live-streaming den from a casino in the Philippines. The gang was operating from an apartment in Dynasty Garden on Avenida Sir Anders Ljungsted. The police think that the gambling den operates for at least a year and it siphoned off $8.14 million from the state coffers. The police suspect that the illegal gambling den was working hand-in-glove with accomplices in the Philippines.
The gang used China’s most popular social media called WeChat to accept bets from players. The illegal gambling den allegedly tried to lure wealthy high rollers tourists to gamble online.
It was reported that 8 men and 1 woman between 19 and 32 were detained. The reports allege that 2 men from Jiangxi are the kingpins in the whole system. Supposing that the allegations are found to be true, the nine individuals could face severe punishments. According to the police, the illegal gambling den was operated by locals from either Macau or Hong Kong.
The police officers asserted that they will further investigate the case in an attempt to find who stays behind the whole crime syndicate. It was explained that the police is to join forces with Interpol in order to break up the ring that runs the gambling den.
The Philippines Poised to Curb Illegal Online Gambling
The Philippines has turned into a major gambling hub. As a cash-intensive business, the gambling industry attracted the attention of many criminals, who benefited from the industry’s weaknesses. This had a negative effect on the proliferating gambling market. As a result, the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has launched a severe crackdown on online gambling activities in an attempt to curb the constantly increasing crime rate.
So far, the police have busted a number of illegal gambling dens. Earlier this year, the Philippine top official made it clear that all online gambling operators that do not have an authorization by the relevant authoritative bodies to operate, are deemed unlawful. In 2016, President Duterte officially announced his plans to crack down on online gambling. The move came shortly after the law enforcement agencies finished working on drug trafficking and other concerning issues.
