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Cops: 22,300 arrested for gambling offences this year

The police have arrested 22,300 individuals in 12,449 raids involving various gambling cases nationwide from January 1 to September 5 this year.

Inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the total arrests were less compared to the same period last year in which 24,338 individuals, were nabbed in 12,628 operations.

However, he said the cash seizure rose to RM4,676,359 compared to RM3,735,667 in 2017.

Fuzi said hardcore gamblers were moving to illegal public lottery gambling, which recorded an increase in cash seizure of up to RM1,471,359 in 7,947 premise raids, with 8,375 individuals apprehended.

“There were 3,297 more raids involving gambling machines with 9,764 arrests apart from the confiscation of 25,267 gambling machines, while 1,205 raids involved other forms of gambling with 4,161 arrests,” he said in a statement today.

According to Fuzi, the study found that the six states with the highest gambling raids were Johor, Selangor, Sarawak, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Penang.

He said to combat the social ill holistically, police had set up operation rooms and hotlines since July 20 to facilitate people channelling information to police.

“The initiative was well-received by the community, and to date, 716 tip-offs have been obtained which resulted in 414 raids conducted.

He said from April 2, 2014 to Sept 5, 2018, police have also arrested 177 subjects who acted as gambling organisers throughout the country under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959.

- Bernama

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