Bukit Aman vows stern action against gambling rings claiming to have senior cops in their corner

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Aman has warned online gambling syndicates against using the names of its top brass to claim that police have given them the green light to restart their activities.

Federal CID director Comm Datuk Seri Abd Jalil Hassan said between Jan 24 and Feb 2, police conducted 826 raids against online gambling syndicates.

"This is proof that we are not in cahoots with these syndicates.

"We will not compromise with these syndicates and will use all available laws to act against them," he told reporters at Bukit Aman on Thursday (Feb 3).

He said police arrested 1,355 suspects comprising premises caretakers and clients during the raids.

"We also seized 2,558 computers, tablets, mobile phones and other gadgets and RM189,196 in cash.

"We believe these syndicates are brazenly using the names of Bukit Aman top brass to avoid action.

"These syndicates believe that by using these names, police personnel would be afraid to take action," he said, adding that these syndicates also name-dropped to reassure their clients that it was safe to gamble.

He said based on police records, Selangor topped the list with 132 raids, RM30,078 cash seized and 342 arrests; it was followed by Johor (99 raids, 105 arrests and RM45,927 cash seized) and Kuala Lumpur (94 raids, 213 arrests and RM 13,965 cash seized).

To ensure there was no insider involvement in such syndicates, his department had invited the Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS) to join it on anti-gambling operations.

"JIPS will be involved in every operation we conduct to ensure that all standard operating procedures are followed.

"We are now checking those arrested to see if they are connected to the syndicate masterminds," he said, urging those with information on such activities to contact the CID Hotline at 016 577 3477.