Macau recorded 158 “gaming-related” crimes in the first three months of 2023, up 24.4 percent on the 127 identified in the prior-year period, according to the latest statistics published on Thursday by the Office of the Secretary for Security.
Compared to 2019, the trading year prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of gaming-linked crimes was down 63.9 percent, it said.
The authorities stated they believed the “main reason” for the increase in the number of gaming-related crimes was that “in the beginning of the year, Macau and neighbouring regions … eased their respective cross-border policies,” leading to a “rapid rise in the number of visitors to Macau and the gradual recovery of the [city’s] gaming industry”.
A total of 40 fraud cases related to gaming was recorded in first-quarter 2023, up 17.6 percent year-on-year, showed the data. The authorities recorded five usury cases – i.e., loan sharking – related to gambling, down 50.0 percent year-on-year.
In the opening quarter of 2023, the police stopped on casino premises 28 people banned from entering such venues, an increase of 211.1 percent from a year earlier.
Regarding gaming-linked thefts, the authorities recorded a total of 22 cases in first-quarter 2023, a rise of 144.4 percent from the prior-year period. Instances of “illegitimate appropriation” totalled 19 cases, up 26.7 percent from the first quarter of 2022.
In the crime statistics update, the police said they had worked to “reinforce the number of inspections carried out by the police” in the city’s casinos, and in places adjacent to those venues, as well as to increase cooperation with the six casino operators.
The office also cited concerns on illicit money exchange activities – mostly engaged by mainland Chinese “groups” – that are associated with the gaming sector.
It said it “intercepted” 3,655 people linked to those activities in the three months to March 31, an increase of 78.4 percent year-on-year. Despite such increase, “there was no considerable rise in associated crimes,” it added.
“Most of the people were from mainland China, a fact that reflects a more professional trend and group activity,” stated the office. “It is believed that the increase [in the number of cases] is strictly related to the easing of the epidemic situation, the facilitation of cross-border policies and the recovery of the gaming sector,” it added.
In first-quarter 2023, the city’s authorities recorded an aggregate of 3,006 crimes, up 17.2 percent from the prior-year period.
Earlier this year, the authorities had warned of a possible rise in crime in Macau this year, as the city’s economy recovers. They also said that gaming-related money-change scams were a risk this year as Macau recovers.
