About 3,600 Vietnamese people go to Cambodia to gamble every day, and on Saturdays the figure increases to 5,000, a survey by the Ministry of Public Security’s General Department of Crime Prevention and Control shows.
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| A scene of gambling seen in a casino. Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security reports that 3,600 Vietnamese gamble in Cambodia daily Photo: Internet |
The General Department said it had conducted the survey at 40 casinos and 23 cockfighting fields in Cambodia and ten Vietnamese localities that border Cambodia.
According to the Criminal Police Department, these casinos and cockfighting fields are organized professionally through a close management system including boards of directors, managers, accountants, foreign exchange clerks, cashiers, poker dealers, guides, and security guards.
They even have groups of marketers who visit many areas, both urban and rural, to lure gamblers and cockfighters into spending their money.
The department is keeping a close eye on 173 gamblers, and the 319 drivers who usually take those gamblers from Vietnam to Cambodia, as well as 47 members of the underworld who act as protectors of casinos and cockfighting fields in Cambodia.
Last year police nationwide detected more than 11,000 gambling cases involving 56,000 people, up 10 percent from 2010.
Gambling in any forms is illegal under Vietnam’s law except in casinos where only foreigners are allowed in.
Police also cracked down on more than 1,000 prostitution rings involving 4,500 women in 2011.
Over time, the prostitution industry has become more complex,
involving numerous complicated operation methods, the department said.
In order to drive back gambling and prostitution, the General Department
of Crime Prevention and Control asked all police units to strengthen
their investigation and detection of such crimes, encourage the public
to take part in fighting social evils, and tighten management over
operators of games with monetary bonuses.
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