Gambling crimes grow in Macau

Suspected gambling related crime as claimed by more than 15 percent year-on-year.

Macau.- According to a report from GGRAsia, gambling related crime has climbed 16 percent year-on-year during the first nine months of the year. More than 1200 individual instances were led by a 45 percent swell in alleged cases on loan-sharking.

The Macau authorities consider cases as related to gaming if they happen inside a casino or its immediate surroundings. Local police reported 350 cases from January to September whilst in the third quarter the numbers grew 32 percent year-on-year to 115 instances.

Authorities confirmed that most of these cases were victims in loan-sharking and non-Macau residents, with most of the instances happening inside casinos, which meant that these had not negatively impacted the overall public security in the city.

Security Secretary for Macau, Wong Sio Chak, said that the year-on-year swell had slowed over the third quarter. Despite the rise in gambling crimes, Macay recorded an 8 percent year-on-year boost in aggregated GGR to US$2.73 billion, the third consecutive monthly increase in casinos.