Police clamp down on festive gamblers

THE annual police pre-Christmas clampdown on illegal gambling has so far seen 79 people arrested across the island.

Police spokeswoman Chrystalla Demetriou yesterday told the Mail that since November 15, “1,100 random checks have taken place in coffee shops, clubs and associations.”

Thirty-seven of the arrests have been in the Paphos area, with Demetriou saying the campaign, which will run until January 8, is set to be intensified with Christmas approaching.

She added that a warrant is needed to search a private residence, admitting that the law, which prohibits gambling for a profit, is difficult to enforce with 100 per cent efficiency.

Over the weekend, six people were arrested in Limassol after police raided a home and discovered £1,035 in cash along with gambling paraphernalia including playing cards and dice.

Last year saw 193 people arrested, while in 2004, 279 broke gambling laws.

Figures before the checkpoints opened in 2003 were not available yesterday, but Demetriou guessed that, “they were probably higher as people could not easily cross over to play in the casinos in the north.”

Nicos Rossos, the President of SAKO, the Association Confronting Social Problems, said that gambling is a phenomenon which increases over the festive season as there is, “a so-called tradition for people to chase their luck.” He described it as unacceptable.

“We even have a Greek betting organisation which run a campaign whose slogan is, ‘Luck Is Looking For You’. They intensify advertising over the Christmas period which encourages people to gamble.”

He admitted that this time of year sees more gambling taking place as people have more free time on their hands.

“Instead of gambling, people should be encouraged to spend more time with their families, attend church services or cultural performances,” he said.

According to Rossos, “gambling for recreational purposes is allowed and only becomes illegal when a lot of money is involved.”

When asked to expand, he said it was up to the discretion of the police as to what was deemed illegal.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.