Gaming-related crimes rise by 16 percent

Chan Wai Kuong (center), the recently appointed director of the Judiciary Police

The number of gaming-related crimes soared by around 16 percent year-on-year in 2014.  This is possibly due to the industry’s “readjustment phase,” as suggested yesterday by the director of the Judiciary Police (PJ), Chan Wai Kuong. Gaming revenue has declined month-on-month since last June.
Mr Kuong presented PJ’s main figures for 2014 in an annual meeting held yesterday. He revealed that authorities recorded a total of 3,023 cases of crimes related to gaming, which is 424 more than in the previous year. These include all crimes taking place in the city’s casinos, namely abduction (71 cases against 39 cases recorded in 2013) and loan sharking which amounted to 208, 47 more than in 2013.
The PJ director acknowledged an increase in gaming-­related crimes “as the gaming industry entered an adjustment phase last year.” Mr Kuong also stated that an increase in the number of uncovered cases might be related to a higher number of police officers patrolling casinos. He said that more police officers have been tasked to work within several casino premises and to collect information on gaming-related crimes.
Mr Kuong revealed that they will be extending PJ’s departments to include new investigation units, which will help fight serious financial crimes, such as money laundering.
There was also a significant increase in fraud, especially through phone scams. Authorities recorded a total of 505 cases in 2014, representing a 52.4 percent increase year-on-
year. There were 375 cases of phone scams uncovered by the police (254 more cases than in the previous year).
Authorities also recorded an increase in the number of “nude chat” cases, which has doubled (32 cases) compared to last year.
PJ’s director explained that Internet scams are also on the rise and the population seems now more vulnerable to this type of crime. These crimes might involve other jurisdictions.  Since IP addresses used to perform a scam are usually located outside Macau, Mr Kuong pledged further cooperation with other regions’ authorities.
Indeed, online fraud rose significantly, reaching a total of 425 cases last year.  This figure is up by 33.7 percent year-­on-year. The PJ director acknowledged that as online crimes are on the rise, there is a need to improve investigation and surveillance mechanisms to fight them.
“We are quite concerned about crimes relating to the Internet and we will hire more professionals to work in this field, particularly IT experts who can help us get proof [of online crimes],” the PJ director said.
As more people now resort to the Internet in search of news and information, the PJ has also launched a WeChat account to share information on the cases it is handling each day.
Drug trafficking crimes, on the other hand, decreased by 24.8 percent over the previous year. There were 103 cases of drug trafficking last year (34 less than in 2013). These included three cross-border drug trafficking crimes. One of these was uncovered at the Macau International Airport after an examination in an X-ray machine showed that a person was hiding 1kg of heroin in their body.
According to the police, drug abuse crimes have also decreased, and with it, the number of people involved in these cases. In 2014, 114 cases were recorded involving 276 people, whereas in 2013 there were 191 cases and 276 people involved.
Mr Kuong pointed out that Macau does not have a specific drug detox program.  There is, therefore, a need for police authorities to identify the main causes of this type of crime.
Cases of theft and robbery also declined. Authorities uncovered a total of 1,525 instances of theft and 91 cases of robbery. Mr Kuong said that improvements to police-based patrolling methods, as well as awareness campaigns addressing local residents, proved successful last year.
Five years ago, Macau authorities established a special group to deal with criminal prevention in residential areas. The PJ director said that they gradually increased the number of police officers working within this group from 10 to 18. They are hoping to hire more officers, with the aim of reaching 40 professionals who will work on crime prevention within residential areas.
Juvenile delinquency cases soared last year, as 30 minors were referred to the Public Prosecutions Offices. On the other hand, 12 people were referred to the MP in 2013. The number of crimes perpetrated by foreigners decreased, authorities revealed.
The Judiciary Police reviewed a total of 12,238 cases last year, representing an increase of 2,506 cases from the previous year. In all, 10,737 cases were opened for investigation, up by 4.5 percent year-­on-year.

Local couple detained for alleged human smuggling

The Zhuhai Security Department has notified Macau authorities that it has exposed a human smuggling network, with a Macau couple as the ringleaders. According to TDM, the mainland authorities intercepted a vessel on January 25 in the water near Zhuhai’s Baipai Island, and have detained one sailor and three alleged illegal immigrants. The authorities then took nine other members of the human smuggling network from Gongbei and Tanzhou into custody. After investigating into the issue, the authorities alleged that a couple from Macau was in control of the group, having had a long history of organizing human smuggling activities. They were also alleged to have invited their friends and families to join the syndicate. The members of the smuggling ring were either responsible for charging the smuggling fees from illegal immigrants in Macau or Zhuhai, or for arranging the smuggling route.