Police Crackdown on Illegal Street Gamblers
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Central Police Operations Support Team of the Royal Solomon Island Police Force (RSIPF) with the assistance of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) uniform patrols conducted an anti-gambling operation shutting-down Illegal Street gambling in areas of White River to Town Ground and Mission Place (Point Cruz) on 29 April 2022.
A total of eight sites were raided and shut down with police enforcing the law under Section 4 (1) of the Games & Lottery Act ‘Gaming in a Public Place’ and under provisions of the current State Of Emergency which prohibits groups from gathering while the covid-19 pandemic continues.
Supervising Provincial Police Commander (PPC) Superintendent Jimson Robo said, “Operation Stopem Gambling 2022” is an operation designed with two clear objectives.
"First, the operation is to stop gambling which we know can lead to social and family problems such as domestic violence over spent money and this also leads to breakdowns in the community.
"Secondly, the operation was also conducted to enforce the current State Of Emergency regulations which prohibits large public gatherings while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the broader Honiara community.
"As you can see from this operation, we will operate in this space all year if we have to. Friday's joint operation with the AFP is only phase one, which is a shut-down and warning phase. We encourage people not to conduct illegal street gambling and congregate in numbers," PPC Superintendent Jimson Robo said.
Mr Robo says that the next phase will likely involve charging those who continue to disrespect the law. He says police have received information on these gatherings and developed intelligence on gambling venues and will respond accordingly and strongly.
"I remind all communities, even those just outside Honiara, if you are conducting these illegal activities, we will find out, and we will be taking action.
“With the ongoing assistance of the AFP, anti-gambling raids will continue and the laws of the Solomon Islands will be enforced,” says PPC Robo.
