Gaming-related crime high as expected

Crimes related to the gaming industry have significantly increased as expected, the Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, noted during yesterday’s release of Macau’s crime statistics for the period January to September 2023.

The Secretary noted that, with the significant increase in the number of tourists and casino activities, it was expected that the crimes related to gaming would pick up this year.

According to data from the Judiciary Police (PJ), the number of cases directly related to the gaming industry has increased by 178.6% over the period when compared year-on-year with 2022.

However, since 2019, crimes related to gaming have reduced by 55%, the data revealed.

Instead, crimes involving kidnapping increased by 1,100%. Whilst cases of kidnapping were almost nonexistent during the COVID pandemic years, PJ confirmed that the number of cases in 2023 to date, 12, should not be of significant concern.

More concerning is cases involving scams related to the gaming industry – almost all of which relate to the activity of illegal currency exchangers.

A total of 155 scam cases have been reported in the last nine months. Whilst this constitutes an increase of 138.5% year-to-year, the figure is barely half of that recorded in 2019.

67 cases of the traditional crime of usury have been recorded in the same year-to-year period, up 168%.

According to PJ, there is a clear trend in the change of the type of crimes related to the gaming industry in post-pandemic Macau. There have been fewer cases of traditional crimes of both usury and kidnapping due to gambling debts and more cases related to currency exchange scams.

According to the security authorities, almost 3,000 residents from the mainland have been detained and investigated in the first nine months of this year for cases related to illegal currency exchange, with nearly another 250 suspected of involvement in prostitution.

While prostitution is itself not illegal in Macau, the exploitation of prostitution is. Prostitutes from the mainland are generally targeted by authorities as suspects of illegal work, for they often do not possess a permit to work in Macau.