Macau Raids Casinos After Deadly Attacks on Guests
Macau police in operation with Chinese and Hong Kong authorities raided a number of casinos and hotels during the late night and early morning hours of August 3 and 4 (Friday and Saturday) in what is being codenamed “Operation Thunderbolt”.
The raid follows a series of murders and attacks targeting tourists. 1300 people have been questioned and 150 of those detained as a result of the investigation.
“Crime comes inevitably with casinos,” Au Kam-sun, a Macau lawmaker, said yesterday in a telephone interview with Bloomberg News. “The police make a clean-up every now and then to keep the triads in check.”
130 individuals were arrested on Thursday August 2 as part of a cheating scheme at three unidentified casinos. That case involved $11.6 million with casino dealers alleged to have taken bribes. They are also accused of using tiny cameras to take images of cards on baccarat tables.
In June, the largest shareholder of Amax Holdings Ltd., Ng Man-sun, was beaten in a restaurant at a casino operated by his company. Following that attack, Ng reportedly asked that eight of the nine directors of Amax’s board be removed and replaced by five new directors, according to a company statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on July 16.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
