150 arrested in raids on Macau hotels and casinos
Source: Agencies |
00:54 UTC+8 August 7, 2012
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POLICE in Macau have arrested 150 people in raids at casinos and hotels across the Chinese territory following a spate of violence that raised fears of a revival of gang warfare in the world's most lucrative gambling market.
Police said they had questioned 1,300 people in "Operation Thunderbolt 2012," carried out with authorities in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. They would not name the casinos or hotels involved.
The operation follows a spate of murders and the beating up of a veteran operator of casino VIP junkets that raised fears that Macau could see a return to the violence that rocked it in the late 1990s. That's when triads, or mafia groups, unleashed a wave of car bombings, assassinations and gangland killings as they battled for control of lucrative casino VIP rooms.
"This was an annual operation held jointly by Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong," said Jacqueline Chan, a police spokeswoman. "The operation didn't have any specific target. Rather, it was aimed at preventing and tackling crime."
After Macau returned to the motherland in 1999, violence abated and the city overtook Las Vegas Strip as the world's most lucrative gambling market, raking in US$33.5 billion in casino revenues last year, a 42 percent increase over the year before.
Companies operating casinos in Macau include Las Vegas Sands Corp, Wynn Resorts Ltd and MGM Resorts International.
The recent violence included an attack in June on Ng Man-sun, who is recovering in hospital after reportedly being beaten up in his own hotel in a dispute over ownership of the property. Ng is a longtime operator of VIP casino junkets.
That was followed in July by the deaths of two mainland men at the Grand Lapa hotel and the killing of a mainland woman in a residential neighborhood near the Venetian Macao casino. The killings remain unsolved.
Hong Kong police said last week they raided 21 locations there as part of the operation, arresting 130 people suspected of money laundering, illegal gambling and prostitution.
Police said they had questioned 1,300 people in "Operation Thunderbolt 2012," carried out with authorities in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. They would not name the casinos or hotels involved.
The operation follows a spate of murders and the beating up of a veteran operator of casino VIP junkets that raised fears that Macau could see a return to the violence that rocked it in the late 1990s. That's when triads, or mafia groups, unleashed a wave of car bombings, assassinations and gangland killings as they battled for control of lucrative casino VIP rooms.
"This was an annual operation held jointly by Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong," said Jacqueline Chan, a police spokeswoman. "The operation didn't have any specific target. Rather, it was aimed at preventing and tackling crime."
After Macau returned to the motherland in 1999, violence abated and the city overtook Las Vegas Strip as the world's most lucrative gambling market, raking in US$33.5 billion in casino revenues last year, a 42 percent increase over the year before.
Companies operating casinos in Macau include Las Vegas Sands Corp, Wynn Resorts Ltd and MGM Resorts International.
The recent violence included an attack in June on Ng Man-sun, who is recovering in hospital after reportedly being beaten up in his own hotel in a dispute over ownership of the property. Ng is a longtime operator of VIP casino junkets.
That was followed in July by the deaths of two mainland men at the Grand Lapa hotel and the killing of a mainland woman in a residential neighborhood near the Venetian Macao casino. The killings remain unsolved.
Hong Kong police said last week they raided 21 locations there as part of the operation, arresting 130 people suspected of money laundering, illegal gambling and prostitution.
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