KUCHING: Sarawak CID conducted 27 raids on outlets selling illegal lotteries and offering online gambling reload services and arrested a total of 33 persons. Sarawak Head CID, SAC Dato’ Dev Kumar said the raids were from 8 to 15 April which included 20 raids on illegal lotteries outlets, cyber gambling (6 raids) and gambling (1 raid) throughout the state.
He said police will eradicate online gambling with continuous raids on 24-hour convenience stores and coffee shops offering reload services to online gamblers. Six raids were conducted in five districts (Kuching, Sibu, Miri, Bau and Sri Aman) that resulted in the arrest of seven service providers and seizure of 12 tablets and cash amounting to RM578.
Twenty raids were conducted at counters selling illegal lotteries in eight districts. The most number of raids was conducted in Miri (4), Padawan (4), Sibu (3) and Bau (3). The raids resulted in the arrest of 21 individuals and seizure of cash amounting to RM3,217. Mobile phones, portable printers, calculators, betting slips and stationery were also seized.
A raid was conducted at a shop in Wayang Street, Limbang where five individuals were arrested for gambling in a public place. Gambling paraphernalia and cash amounting to RM150 were seized during the raid.
Of the 33 arrestees, 23 were males while the rest were females. They were aged between 17 and 52 years. Four of those arrested were foreigners. All the arrestees are being investigated for offences under the Common Gaming House Act.
