A massive series of raids on illegal gambling dens in Kuala Lumpur was hampered when law enforcement officers found most of the gambling spots were abandoned and cleared of incriminating evidence.
During the operation, codenamed Ops BAH 4, which began at 11am yesterday, most of the raids’ targets were found to be empty, likely due to information leaked to the operating syndicate.
The large-scale operation involved 378 officials from 13 law enforcement agencies, and targeted 74 premises suspected of harbouring gambling operations, Harian Metro‘s Fardy Bungga reports.
Despite the setbacks, the raids did manage to net a number of computers used for gambling purposes.
Most of the targeted premises disguised themselves as empty lots with signs placed in front of them stating that they were for sale or rent.
Several premises also had metal sheets or concrete walls erected on their storefronts to further hamper efforts to raid them.
Police were shocked to discover that some premises even had secret passgeways built connecting them to adjacent lots for the purpose of providing operators with a quick escape route.
No arrests were made as a result of the raids yesterday.
Federal Territories Ministry secretary-general Adnan Md Iksan said, despite the low success rate and and lack of arrests, Ops BAH 4 nevertheless affected the illicit gambling operations in KL and had put the syndicates involved on notice.
“During Ops BAH 4, 680 computers and five gambling machines were seized from 34 raided premises across the areas of Cheras and Bandar Tun Razak,” he said.
