Fewer illegal gambling dens in Penang now, thanks to cops

GEORGE TOWN: Illegal gambling operations in the state have been curbed by successful police raids and constant monitoring.

Penang CID chief Senior Asst Comm Zainol Samah said the police aimed to have zero illegal gambling in all the state’s five districts.

“We have four to five teams out every day to conduct raids and check on centres that are suspected of being involved in these activities.

“We also have round-the-clock monitoring on the 224 licensed family entertainment outlets in the state as some may have misused their licence to conduct gambling activities,” he said yesterday.

SAC Zainol said a total of 240 successful raids have been conducted this year on illegal gambling centres.

“We rounded up 298 workers and 438 gamblers, and seized 478 simulators, 709 slot machines, 149 computers, 23 tablets, 13 mobile phones, one laptop and RM97,061 cash from these raids.”

He also urged the public to call the police hotline (04-2691999) should they come across any illegal gambling activity in their area.

A check by The Star yesterday showed that a gambling den in Bandar Baru Air Itam, which was raided by police in June, appeared to be chained shut.

The owner of the snooker outlet upstairs said the gambling den had been closed for the past two weeks.

“It is temporary but I do not know when they will reopen. Try again next week,” he suggested.

Asked why it was closed, he said to “ask Bukit Aman” (police HQ) as he did not know.

Another gambling den in Bandar Baru Air Itam was also locked and chained.

The number of outlets suspected to be illegal gambling centres on the mainland has also fallen.

Several outlets along Jalan Raja Uda are no longer operating and many others in Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam have also been shuttered. Some lots are being used by other businesses now.

Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim said his team found 57 premises in the constituency suspected to be illegal gambling outlets last September and submitted a report to the police for further action.

“The police conducted checks on all the premises, and after that we noticed a reduction. A count by my team early this year found the numbers drastically reduced.

“Although some new ones may have just started, there is a noticeable reduction and we can thank the police for doing a good job,” he said.