Gaming offenses soar nearly 67% in first half of 2025

The overall crime rate in the city decreased by 6.4% in the first half of 2025, while gaming-related crimes saw a sharp increase of 66.8%, according to the semiannual crime statistics report released by the Office of the Secretary for Security (GSS) on Friday.

Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak reported that authorities investigated 6,699 criminal cases between January and June – a decrease of 460 cases from the first half of 2024.

The surge in gaming-related crimes reached 1,139 cases, directly attributed to the enforcement of the law on illegal gaming activities that came into force in October 2024.

The most influential impact came from the creation of the specific offence category of “Operation of Illegal Currency Exchange for Gambling.”

This category – targeting the pervasive issue of illicit money changer operations – alone accounted for 240 cases, or 21.1% of all gaming-related crimes in the six-month period.

Furthermore, the law prompted a significant reclassification of existing crime types.

Many fraud cases, which saw an 86.8% increase to 297 incidents, were categorized as gaming-related because they stemmed from scams directly connected to these illegal money exchange activities.

Security officials emphasized that this statistical broadening is a primary driver behind the alarming percentage increases.

“The overall increase in recorded gaming-related crimes primarily reflects the expansion of legal definitions and reporting standards following our legislative reforms,” Wong stated during the press conference.

He added, “It represents a more accurate, albeit larger, capture of criminal activity that was already occurring but was previously unmeasured in this unified way.”

Serious gaming crimes see notable decline

Despite the overall rise in case numbers due to reclassification, the report highlighted significant victories against traditional, more serious gaming crimes.

Usury, or illegal lending for gambling – an offence that often preys on vulnerable individuals – decreased by 17.2% to 101 cases.

Perhaps more notably, kidnapping – a crime notoriously linked to violent debt collection for gambling losses – plummeted by 43.5%.

Non-residents involved in majority of gaming crimes

The demographic data within the report further clarifies the nature of Macau’s gaming-related crime, showing it remains overwhelmingly an issue involving non-residents.

Of the 1,348 suspects investigated for these offences, a striking 85.3% (1,150 individuals) were non-residents.

Similarly, 90.6% of victims – 608 of 671 individuals – were also non-residents, with mainland Chinese nationals constituting the largest group among both suspects and victims.

Police crack down on illegal exchange rings

The report dedicated significant space to detailing the successful, comprehensive crackdown on illegal money exchange rings.

Through enhanced cross-border cooperation with mainland Chinese authorities under joint operations such as the “Winter Crime Prevention Operation 2024” and “Thunderbolt 2025,” police achieved a substantial 81.5% reduction in individuals merely intercepted for illegal money changing – down to 410 from 2,215 in the same period last year.

These sophisticated joint operations led to the dismantling of 277 specific illegal exchange cases, resulting in 406 arrests and the seizure of approximately MOP60 million in cash and chips.

Beyond physical enforcement, a cooperation mechanism involving police, gaming regulators, and concessionaires successfully identified and blocked nearly 60,000 illegal gambling websites fraudulently impersonating legitimate Macau gaming companies.

Prevention efforts

The Judiciary Police conducted six specialized crime prevention workshops for gaming industry employees, training 323 participants to better identify and report suspicious activities.

Authorities reported that public awareness campaigns reached over 810 tourists directly in casino and hotel areas, providing them with information to protect themselves from common scams.

Overall crime sees broad improvement

The decrease in overall crime was notable – an 11.2% reduction in property crimes, which fell to 3,923 cases.

Within this category, key offences saw significant declines. Fraud dropped by 19.1% to 1,128 cases, theft decreased by 10.6% to 940 cases, and robbery was down 5.3% to 18 cases.

Violent crime also followed this positive trend, plummeting by 16.8% to just 124 recorded cases, with serious offences like homicide and kidnapping maintaining near-zero occurrence rates – contributing to a sense of public safety. Times Reporter