The director of the Criminal Investigations Department of Malaysia’s Bukit Aman headquarters, Shuhaily Zain, revealed this week that authorities arrested almost 2,000 people during a recent enforcement operation targeting illegal gambling.
According to local media reports, the two-week operation, codenamed Special Op Dadu, was aimed at eradicating illegal online gambling and lottery betting, with 1,871 people arrested during nationwide raids between 22 September and 5 October.
“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,” Zain said during a press conference.
Those arrested comprised 1,599 men and 312 women aged between 20 and 60. Zain said police were continuing to investigate the cases for assisting in a public lottery and buying lottery tickets under Sections 4A (a) and 9(1) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953.
“As of 5 October, a total of 382 investigation papers involving online gambling and illegal lottery were solved and charged in court,” he said.
“A total of 1,362 investigation papers are still under probe while 43 investigation papers have been categorised as no further action.”