ALOR STAR: Kedah police have lauded the Federal police’s move to carry out the largest ever crackdown on illegal gambling nationwide, including online gambling.
Its police chief Datuk Asri Yusoff acknowledged that compared to conventional illegal gambling, combating online gambling is far more challenging as most of the platforms are based abroad.
As such, Asri said he fully backs Bukit Aman's decision to carry out an all-out crackdown on illegal gambling soon and vowed to intensify efforts to track down the organisers.
Citing an example, he said the emergence of online gambling allowed the runners to organise the activity at different locations at one go, some to the extent of up to three different locations per session.
"In most cases, those arrested claimed that the organisers of such online illegal gambling are based elsewhere, so that makes things even more challenging for us," he said after attending a "Healthy Life Without Drug Abuse" programme at Taman Setia Jaya on Friday.
Also present at the event was Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.
Asri added that to compound matters, some licensed family entertainment centres are also flouting their permit by offering illegal online gambling activity.
"It is an uphill task for us to track down the organisers of online gambling as most of the operators are based abroad," he said.
On Wednesday, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim announced that the Federal police is set to launch the largest ever crackdown on illegal gambling nationwide.
He was reported as saying that the raids would not just be carried out on illegal gambling dens, but also the formulation of a more synergised plan involving related government and enforcement agencies.
Noor Rashid said the ultimate target of the crackdown is to closing down online gambling platforms.
He had acknowledged that online gambling has become the preferred choice of operators it is easier to avoid detection.