Macau: Gaming-related crime cases down 45.2% in H1

The Office of the Secretary for Security in Macau reported 198 gaming-related crimes in the first half of the year.

Macau.- Authorities in Macau have shared crime statistics for the first half of the year. Gaming-related crime cases were down 45.2 per cent year-on-year from 361 to 198.

The government said the year-on-year drop was due to lower tourist arrivals to Macau due to Covid-19 restrictions. Cases in the first half of the year were down just 7 per cent from the 213 cases recorded in the first half of 2020.

Among other factors contributing to the first-half decline was local police action against “criminal groups”, the report stated. About 27 per cent of cases (54 cases) detected in the first half of 2022 were classified as scams associated with casino environments, with 23 of those cases involving currency exchange. 

In the first half, police conducted checks on 2,725 people who were related to illicit currency exchange activities, down 39.1 per cent from a year earlier. The report added that the majority of those suspected of illegally exchanging currency were from mainland China.

Other types of gambling-related crime – namely loan sharking, theft and forced incarceration of individuals – all fell when compared to last year. In 2021, the city recorded 1,372 gaming-related crimes. The figure was up 23.2 per cent from the 1,114 cases identified in 2020.