POLICE arrested 74 foreigners after raiding eight premises in the capital allegedly used to run online gambling, love scams and fictitious investment schemes, with the locations also serving as accommodation for call centre operators.
The suspects, aged between 20 and 50, comprised 67 men and seven women — 61 Chinese nationals, 12 Vietnamese and one Taiwanese, based on preliminary checks of their identification documents.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk M. Kumar said the simultaneous raids were conducted yesterday under Ops Dadu Khas in collaboration with the Commercial Crime Investigation Department.
“Checks found that all eight premises were believed to be linked to activities promoting online gambling, ‘love scams’ and non-existent investment scams, besides being used as hostels or accommodation for call centre operators,” he said in a statement on Tuesday..
Police also seized computers, laptops, modems and mobile phones of various brands believed to have been used in the activities.
A transparent plastic packet containing five reddish pills suspected to be Yaba, weighing 0.8 grammes, was also seized, along with 5.72 grammes of powder and crystal fragments suspected to be methamphetamine.
M. Kumar said eight investigation papers had been opened under Section 4(1)(g) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953, Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating and Section 120B of the same Code for criminal conspiracy.
The cases are also being investigated under Section 39A(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, as well as Sections 6(1)(c) and 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for various immigration offences.
“PDRM remains committed to combating gambling activities as they have a significant negative impact on the country’s economic stability and contribute to social breakdown.
“Total enforcement against all forms of unlicensed gambling activities will continue to be intensified, involving various agencies, including local authorities,” he said.
He urged the public to continue providing information to assist authorities in combating such activities. - September 30, 2026
