THOUSANDS OF GAMBLING COMPUTERS SEIZED IN MALAYSIAN POLICE RAIDS

Saturday August 20,2011 :  Unrelenting pressure on internet cafes offering online gambling
 
Malaysia must be one of the most hazardous places on earth for internet cafe owners offering online gambling, and the police in Georgetown, capital of Penang island, continued to apply pressure this week, raiding three "shophouses" that had been offering online gambling.
 
The raiding team seized 28 computers and arrested three men in Paya Terubong, Noordin Street and Burmah Road.
 
George Town police spokesperson, Asst Comm Gan Kong Meng, said the men, aged between 50 and 53, were the managers, adding that the two-hour raid took place late at night.
 
“The shops did not have signboards and access was possible only after keying in a password known only to regular customers," he revealed. “We have remanded the managers pending investigations."
 
ACP Gan said police had conducted 286 raids since 2009 on illegal gambling centres in the North-East District and confiscated 4,135 computers and gambling devices worth about RM6 million.
 
“We have charged 81 people in court so far,” he told the Malaysian newspaper The Star.