A huge enforcement operation was conducted in Malaysia recently, and the results were significant. Almost 2,000 people were arrested during one of the raids related to illegal gambling.
Special Op Dadu:
Shuhaily Zain, the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department of Bukit Aman headquarters in Malaysia, notified the public about the recent events.
The operation lasted for two weeks, and it was conducted under the codename Special Op Dadu. The main focus of it was the reduction of illegal online gambling and lottery betting, which is in expansion in Malaysia.
The exact number of arrested people is 1,871, and the operation was running in the whole country. It lasted between September 22 and October 5 this year.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, Zain held a press conference and commented on this: “In the two-week operation, police seized cash, computer equipment and mobile phones worth RMB 13.000 (US$109.000) used for online gambling and RM680.000 (US$144.000) for illegal lottery activities.”
The demographic of the arrested people proves that in Malaysia, men are more interested in gambling – there were 1,599 men arrested, and only 312 women. They all were aged between 20 and 60.
However, this is not the end of the police’s investigation. The accusations of assisting in a public lottery and buying lottery tickets are yet to be investigated. This is prohibited by the country law under Sections 4A (a) and 9 (1) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953.
Huge amount of raids and violations:
In total, there were 1.785 raids in these two weeks. The police seized the money collected in the illegal activities, and it was a huge amount – MYR680,000 (about US$144.000). On top of that, there was cash, computer equipment, as well as mobile phones that were reportedly used for online gambling were confiscated, adding MYR513,000 to the total amount.
Zaid confirmed it, saying: As of 5 October, a total of 382 investigation papers involving online gambling and illegal lottery were solved and charged in court. A total of 1,362 investigation papers are still under probe while 43 investigation papers have been categorised as no further action.”
As GGRAsia reports, on October 5, the total amount of 382 investigation reports related to various online gambling and illegal lottery issues had led to court charges, and there are 1,362 other investigation reports regarding the same issues. Only 43 of them don’t require any actions in the future and punishments.
The licensed lottery is legal in Malaysia, and Resorts World Genting, which is situated near Kuala Lumpur, also has permission to offer gambling on various casino games. The company is operated by Genting Malaysia Bhd.