Officials in Macau posted 2,717 “gaming-related” crimes in 2023, up 181.6 percent over the previous year, according to data published January 30 by the city’s Judiciary Police. However, compared to 2019, before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the figure was down 49.9 percent.
In a statement, the Judiciary Police said 2023 “was the year in which the Macau gaming sector entered a new phase. With the significant increase in the number of tourists, the police carried out a rigorous prevention plan to tackle the return of gambling-related crimes.”
Sit Chong Meng, director of the law enforcement agency, told reporters, “Serious gambling crimes decreased significantly” compared to the pre-pandemic period, and “serious (gaming-related) crimes, such as under-the-table bets and money laundering, basically disappeared.”
That said, illegal money exchanges in the gambling space “remain active and constitute a serious risk to security in the surrounding areas of casinos,” he added.
According to GGRAsia, law enforcement “intercepted” more than 11,000 people involved in illicit money exchanges last year. Along with Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), police banned 2,048 people involved in such activities from entering casinos in the Chinese city.
Inside Asian Gaming reported 1,107 special investigations and complaints involving gaming in 2023, up from 736 in 2022, but no reported fraud cases involving online gambling in 2023.
“The gaming industry in Macau is developing healthily in the right direction,” Sit said.
