A delivery of unlicensed gambling machines ended in the arrest of more than a dozen people in connection with illegal gambling charges in a Siem Reap town, local media reported.
According to The Phnom Penh Post, provincial and military police raided five apartments in Borey Prem Prey, located on the road between the city and Angkor Wat, over the weekend. Deputy provincial police chief Um Amra told the news outlet that at least 14 people “including the casino’s general manager” were arrested.
Investigators said officers discovered the operation after noticing that several trucks with gambling machines such as slot machines and a mechanized roulette table into the city. Ten days later, police raided the venue.
In a separate interview with the Khmer Times, Amra said they were able to confiscate “four boxes of Karat coins, nine card boxes, slot machines, one roulette machine, a fishing game machine, three tables and two desktop computers.”
Amra called the operation a “brazen” one, noting that it was the first time he saw a group that was so open about its gambling activity.
“It was a restaurant, and the name was a foreign name, but the renter of the place is Khmer so the police are investigating to find out who is behind this and who the renter is too, who is at large,” Amr said, according to the Khmer Times.
A day later, police busted another illegal gambling operation in Siem Reap—this time involving lottery.
Provincial police minor crimes deputy chief Hong Bun Hav told the Phnom Penh Post that authorities raided a branch of CooTel, an Internet company, which they believe operated “a numbers game similar to the Vietnamese lottery and Thai lottery.” Scratch cards are the only form of lottery allowed in Cambodia.
Eleven people were arrested following the raid, authorities told the news outlet.
Siem Reap deputy governor Bun Tharith said a license is required for casinos to operate in the province, but “no one applied to have a casino license in Siem Reap.”
