17-year-old and two women among 18 nabbed for gambling

 

Most of those arrested were senior citizens and they were believed to be gambling in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebrations.

BUKIT MERTAJAM: There was some heavy betting going on but those gathered at a factory did not gamble on the police showing up.

But police did show up – and a 17-year-old Hong Kong boy, two Chinese nationals, both women and a Taiwanese ended up being arrested, along with 14 locals.

A total of RM4,700 placed on the gambling table was seized, along with another RM180,000 in cash from the suspects, at a factory in Jalan Pengkalan Bukit Tengah, here, Bernama reported.

Seberang Perai Tengah district police chief Shafee Abd Samad said acting on information and intelligence, police raided the factory at 4.45pm and arrested the suspects aged between 17 and 82.

“During the raid, we arrested 14 local men, a Taiwanese national, a Hong Kong boy and two Chinese national women who were gambling at the factory. One of the detainees was the owner of the factory,” he said in a statement today.

He said the suspects were being investigated under Section 6 (1) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 for gambling.

“Besides that, they were also compounded RM1,000 each and investigated in accordance with Section 269 of the Penal Code and Article 16 of the prevention and control of infectious diseases 2021 regulations for violating the movement control order,” he said.

It is understood that most of the detainees are senior citizens and they were believed to be gambling in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration. - FMT