GEORGE TOWN: Police arrested 16 men, among them doctors, lawyers and university students, early today in a raid on a luxury condominium unit that had been turned into a gambling den capable of reaping in almost RM500,000 a week.
A foreigner, an American, was among the 16, all aged between 22 and 77, who were held in the raid at 12.35 am at the 14th floor of the building housing the condominium unit in Persiaran Karpal Singh here, said Penang CID chief Datuk Mohd Zakaria Ahmad.
The raid was conducted by three officers and 19 men from the Anti-Vice, Gambling and Secret Societies Division (D7) of the Penang Police led by D7 Staff Officer DSP Yusri Osman following a tip-off and a four-week surveillance, he said.
“During the raid, 15 of the men, including the American, were playing poker under the supervision of a Malaysian man,” he said when contacted.
Mohd Zakaria said police seized two tables, a laptop computer, two modems, a document file, 100 playing cards and 857 chips of various types and colour.
“They were using the chips as cash. Police also seized RM6,541 cash from the gamblers,” he said.
Mohd Zakaria said the condominium unit had been used as a gambling den for several months.
Those arrested would be held under remand to help in the investigation, he said. – BERNAMA