Malaysia to get tough on internet gamblers

Malaysians caught gambling online may soon be taken to court together with owners and operators of the illegal online gambling premises, state police chief Datuk Wira Ayub Yaakob told the New Straits Times over the weekend.
At present online gamblers are only detained to assist in police investigations and called up as witnesses in court, but because gambling activities had continued despite countless police raids, the gamblers would soon have to face the music as well, the police chief said.
“So far, we have only charged the organisers of the gambling activities and owners of premises, like cyber cafes that were being used as gambling dens,” Ayub noted. “There are provisions in the law to charge those who are caught gambling on machines… we will make these people face the law as well,” he said.
The police conducted a major operation Friday, raiding 25 gambling premises in areas that included Jelutong, Lebuh Chulia, Lebuh Macallum Bayan Lepas and Kota Permai in Bukit Mertajam. 25 people were arrested and 302 computers used for gambling and RM763,000 seized.
Furher raids in Kampung Batak and Relau resulting in the detention of 79 people, who were charged in court and fined RM1,000 each.
Ayub said the police had conducted 1,718 raids between January and last month, compared with 641 during the same period last year. They arrested 631 people and seized 6,416 sets of  computers and gaming machines over the first eight months, compared to 271 people and 1,972 machines during the same period last year.

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