GGRAsia – Over 36k illegal gambling sites blocked in 1H: Macau govt

Over 36k illegal gambling sites blocked in 1H: Macau govt

Sep 17, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

“More than 36,000” illegal gambling websites were blocked by the Macau security authorities in the first half of 2024, said the Office of the Secretary for Security in its latest report on gaming-related crime statistics.

“Illegal gambling websites often pretend to be those of Macau’s gaming operators, which not only undermines the safety of public property, but also hurts the image of Macau’s gaming industry,” stated the Office of the Secretary for Security.

The report, published on Monday, said Macau’s Judiciary Police had been “strengthening cooperation” with the city’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, to tackle illegal gambling websites.

In 2022, a a three-way joint action mechanism was established, involving also the city’s gaming operators, in a bid to tackle illegal gambling websites that appropriate the brands of these gaming firms.

The report however did not specify which Macau casino brands had been used by the illegal website that were blocked by the Macau authorities.

The document mentioned a special operation – dubbed “Break Peak” – that was conducted in late June and busted a cross-border syndicate running illegal online gambling, with members based in Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China.

The “Break Peak” operation, jointly conducted with police from Hong Kong and Guangdong province, targeted an illegal online sports betting operation that involved criminal proceeds of more than MOP1 billion (US$124.6 million currently), according to the authorities.

Macau government has proposed specific provisions to combat illegal online gambling activities via a rejig of the city’s law to combat gambling crimes.

The bill, currently being discussed in the Legislative Assembly, proposes a prison sentence of one to eight years for those found guilty of “operating, promoting or organising” unauthorised online gambling or online mutual betting in Macau, regardless of whether such acts are conducted on a regular basis.