Malaysia: 17 arrested in illegal online gambling raid

Authorities raided an online gambling syndicate in Jalan Kerinchi, Bangsar, arresting 17 people, including 14 Chinese nationals and three locals.

Malaysia.- The Immigration Department of Malaysia carried out a raid that ended with the arrest of 17 people involved in an online gambling syndicate in Jalan Kerinchi, Bangsar. 

According to the police, 14 of those arrested were Chinese and the remaining three were local citizens in their 20s and 30s.

The director-general of Immigration, Datuk Ruslin Jusoh, revealed that the raid was prompted by public tip-offs and intelligence gathered over a month. The team faced resistance from the occupants, leading to the forced entry of the premises.

During a subsequent press conference, Ruslin Jusoh stated that the detained Chinese nationals were running online gambling activities, specifically targeting customers in Brazil. He further stressed all Chinese suspects lacked valid identification and travel documents, assumed to be held by the syndicate.

According to The Star, three local men believed to be caretakers of the premises, were arrested for further investigation. 

During the raid, police seized 16 laptops, 10 computer screens, 45 mobile phones, and two tablets, one of which was suspected to function as a closed-circuit camera decoder. 

All detained people are held on suspicion of violating the Immigration Act 1959/63, Passport Act 1966, and Immigration Regulations 1963. They have been transported to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department for further legal proceedings.

Also this week, in Penang, police uncovered an illegal syndicate that was carrying out online gambling activities and was generating profits of up to RM2.5m.

The police conducted two raids and arrested 13 people, four men and five women in the first raid, and four local men in the second. According to officers, the syndicate had been operating for a year, promoting various online games through WeChat and Facebook, targeting customers in Australia and Bangladesh, and generating up to RM1m a month.