Deputy IGP heads team tasked with ending illegal gambling

KUALA LUMPUR: A special team headed by Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim has been set up to wipe out illegal gambling in the country.

“It is the IGP’s wish that we eradicate illegal gambling activities,” he told a press conference at Bukit Aman yesterday.

“We will look at measures that deliver maximum results in achieving this goal.”

A special committee on illegal gambling has also been set up, and will look at more effective action that can be taken against illegal gambling dens and syndicates, as well as ways of identi-fying the operators of such outlets.

Noor Rashid said illegal gambling is a complex issue that has to be tackled from numerous aspects using unconventional approaches.

“Now it takes place online and their servers are overseas,” he said, adding that police would work with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and Internet service providers to help them with the technical aspects of investigations.

The team’s first target is online gambling activities and it will then tackle other forms of illegal gambling, he added.

Noor Rashid said police were making this commitment after receiving many complaints about illegal gambling from the public.

“It is an outcry that needs to be addressed,” he said.

These activities tend to flourish in big cities such Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru and Shah Alam, he added.

Noor Rashid said police officers would also be trained to enhance their knowledge of the vice, which he hopes would help them be better prepared to take action against the perpetrators.

“They will be trained to sharpen their knowledge, strategy and observational skills to carry out effective raids on illegal joints,” he said.

jo.timbuong@thestar.com.my