More Than 41K Illegal Gambling Arrests Made in the Philippines This Year

A dedicated effort to crack down on illegal gambling in the Philippines is paying big dividends. Data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) shows a significant number of arrests resulting from operations specifically targeting illegal gaming since the beginning of the year.

The Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported on Tuesday that police have arrested about 41K people in operations launched to impact the illegal gambling industry. The majority involved online gaming.

The initiative comes as the country’s gaming industry goes through a significant transition. Whereas certain forms of online gambling became wildly popular in recent times, they were also fraught with corruption that led to their cancellation.

The Philippines Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) and eSabong segments have lately run into serious problems. POGOs once delivered millions of dollars in revenue to the Philippines. But an attempt to raise their tax rate became an issue.

 

[Ejyndayo53]

Great kudos to Philippine casino authority for its ability to crackdown over 41k illegal casinos. This is a great feat to be achieved. How I wish same feat is accomplished here in Nigeria. We have lots of illegal both online and offline casinos operated. With these activities, the lives of punters are at risks.

 

[mosesdera]

It's good to see the authorities taking illegal gambling seriously. I'm sure it's not easy to crack down on these operations, but it's important to protect people from the negative consequences of gambling addiction and organized crime.