{"id":31286,"date":"2026-08-18T05:35:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T08:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=31286"},"modified":"2026-08-19T04:22:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T07:22:26","slug":"eswatini-pm-warns-against-interference-in-gambling-arrests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/eswatini-pm-warns-against-interference-in-gambling-arrests","title":{"rendered":"Eswatini PM warns against interference in gambling arrests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The comments followed questions over claims that politicians had intervened in police efforts to arrest people linked to illegal gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Eswatini.- Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini<\/strong> has called for police to pursue suspected illegal gambling operators without interference, following reports of attempts by politicians to obstruct law enforcement operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dlamini said police should be allowed to carry out their responsibilities under the law and that anyone involved in criminal activity should be arrested and brought before the courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dlamini’s remarks came after claims that politicians had intervened in police efforts to arrest people linked to illegal gambling. Dlamini said he was not aware of any such case being reported to his office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police leadership also indicated that it had not received reports alleging that Cabinet ministers had prevented officers from carrying out their duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The allegations emerged after authorities expanded their investigation into a dismantled illegal gambling network following the seizure of electronic devices that reportedly revealed links to politicians<\/a>, immigration officials and other government appointees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crackdown on the illegal gambling operation has seen police arrest more than 150 foreign nationals from China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Brazil, Cambodia and India. Some of these individuals have since been convicted and deported, while others remain in custody awaiting repatriation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An alleged ringleader and two other suspects are currently being held pending trial. Three emaSwati are also accused of hiring foreign nationals to operate the illegal gambling businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspects are expected to face legal proceedings as authorities continue to take action against gambling operations conducted outside Eswatini\u2019s legal framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Eswatini gambling probe uncovers alleged links to politicians and police<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The comments followed questions over claims that politicians had intervened in police efforts to arrest people linked to illegal gambling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":11389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Eswatini's Prime Minister, Russell Mmiso Dlamini, has mandated unimpeded police action against illegal gambling operators, addressing allegations of political interference in law enforcement. This directive follows an expanded investigation into an illicit gambling network, which has led to over 150 arrests and uncovered alleged links to various government officials. The government is committed to enforcing its legal framework against all non-compliant gaming operations.","focusai_entities":"Russell Mmiso Dlamini, Eswatini Police, politicians, immigration officials, government appointees","focusai_location":"Eswatini","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Eswatini Regulatory Outlook?","query":"What specific measures will Eswatini implement to strengthen its gambling regulatory framework and prevent future political interference in law enforcement operations against illicit gaming?"},{"label":"Impact on Market Integrity?","query":"How will the Eswatini government's commitment to prosecuting illegal gambling operations and alleged political collaborators impact the overall market integrity and investor confidence in the jurisdiction?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60023,60011],"tags":[73],"class_list":["post-31286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-africa","tag-illegal-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31286"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31378,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31286\/revisions\/31378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}