KUANTAN, Malaysia - Illegal gambling den operators have changed their modus operandi by going mobile following the recent police crackdown on cyber cafes, which were fronts for online gambling.
Pahang CID chief Senior Asst Comm T. Narenasegaran said: "Now, operators go from house to house, connect multiple laptops with modems and then invite whoever wants to gamble online. When it is over, they just shut down, pack up and leave."
Traditionally, the games were stored in hard disks but gambling den operators use servers now.
"As long as there is Internet connection, gamblers can access the games through servers located in other countries. Once they have disconnected it, the computer will have nothing in it," he said.
SAC Narenasegaran said from January to June, police carried out 213 raids in the state and made 1,256 arrests.
"We confiscated 2,644 computers and seized RM104,108," he said. "The estimated value of the items seized this year is RM2,219,308."
He said besides gamblers, police were also targeting gambling den keepers, licence holders and owners of premises.
"We advise owners not to rent out their shoplots to people who use it for illegal activities as action can be taken against them," said SAC Narenasegaran.
He added that police were working with Tenaga Nasional Bhd, the Kuantan Municipal Council and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to curb illegal gambling.
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