Malaysia has been working on improving the state of its gaming industry and the process has been ongoing for many months now. The official start of the crackdown planned for some time now in Rawang came this weekend as the police managed to arrest a total of 114 people who are suspected to be managing and participating in gambling activities, among who a 10-year-old girl brought at one of the gambling dens by her parents.
Over the span of a total of seven hours the Bukit Aman and the Selangor Police Contingent Headquarters special division taking care of the gambling sector conducted a raid of some 10 facilities. They were confirmed to be in fact having gaming offerings up for grabs whereas individuals connected to their operation were also present on site. A total of 42 people of those detained were individuals overseeing the operation of the gambling locations, whereas the remaining 72 were gaming enthusiasts ranging from 18 to 59 years who were caught in the act of gambling.
As for the devices confiscated along the raid, the authorities seized some 208 slot devices, 73 simulators, and a total of RM16,808 in cash. What is striking in this situation is that there has been an underage girl present at one of the gambling locations. She had been brought there by her parents participating in gaming activities, which somehow paints the picture of the negative impact of gambling on society.
In this sense, the operations which took place this Friday and the wee hours of Saturday are considered successful, as they have reached their objective to minimize the bad influence on society related to gambling. Subjecting their 10-year-old daughter to the close influence of gaming and the overall atmosphere of a casino venue has been allowed by the management of the gambling den, further proving that regulations ought to be tightened.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, stated that the organized raid commenced following the announcement on 20th July. This is when many members of the community had the chance to give information to the authorities regarding illegal gaming dens they are aware of, propelling ahead the statewide gambling crackdown.