705 nabbed in online gambling raids

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JOHOR BARU: The police have conducted 525 raids on online gambling activities in the state in the last seven months, arresting 705 people and seizing RM235,315 in cash.

State police chief Comm Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the police would continue to work with Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and the local councils to clean up the state of online gambling activities.

“We managed to arrest 705 people consisting of 549 premises owners and 156 gamblers from January to July.

“We also confiscated RM235,315 in cash, 833 mobile phones, two computers and two tablets,” he added.

Comm Ayob said the main issue with online gambling was that the syndicates’ modus operandi always changed to avoid being caught by the authorities with the majority of the suspects and gamblers being locals.

He added that police were also not ruling out the possibilities of teenagers being involved in such activities.

“There have been cases where civil servants, VVIPs and youths are involved in such activities and it is crucial that we continue to destroy any premises that have been turned into gambling dens.

“To do this, we must work with other agencies such as TNB and the local councils to make sure these activities are wiped out,” he said during a press conference at the Johor Police Headquarters here yesterday.

He also disclosed that the electricity supply to 46 premises raided had been cut by TNB with four premises having their business licence revoked by the local councils in the same period.

“We have applied for 146 premises to have the electricity supply cut and TNB has managed to cut supply for 46 premises. We also applied for 137 premises to have their licences revoked but the local councils revoked only four,” he said, adding that it was important for the police to work together with other agencies such as TNB and the local council.

The power supply was cut under Section 21A (1) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 while those arrested are being investigated under Section 4(1)(c) of the same Act.