Our View: Random raids will not stamp out illegal gambling

ON SATURDAY night the police raided three establishments in Larnaca believed to be used as gambling venues. Fifty-seven computers, allegedly used for online gambling, countless decks of cards, chips, dice, cash, cheques and safes were confiscated during the raids, which, according to the police spokesman, had been planned some time ago.
A cynic would say that the season of police raids on suspected gambling establishments had arrived. Every year, round about the same time that Christmas lights go up, the police start to raid suspected gambling clubs. The raids usually continue up to the New Year and then stop until the next festive season, even though the gambling clubs operate all year round.
A press report suggested that apart from clamping down on illegal gambling, the raids were intended to “send messages to organised crime” and to “dispel doubts about the police force that were created by allegations made in the legislature and other events”. The report was referring to the revelations made in the legislature about the clandestine courts run by people with links to organised crime.
These revelations, confirmed by the Attorney General at last week’s meeting, reflected badly on the police force, prompting the justice and public order minister to hit back, claiming that deputies had dealings with the extra-judicial courts. He retracted on Monday, after a clear-the-air meeting with the House President Marios Garoyian.
On Monday there were new press revelations about the activities of illegal gambling bosses. Reports claimed that people who had not settled their gambling debts were often held hostage by gangs who beat and terrorised them. Police spokesman Katsounotos confirmed the reports, saying that “online gambling is the cause of many crimes, such as loan sharking, blackmail or even taking people hostage”. People rarely report such cases for fear of retribution by the crime gangs.
These are extremely worrying developments but it is difficult to know how far the police are prepared to go in the war against organised crime. After the Larnaca raids, the Chief of Police involved the financial crime squad in the investigations, asking it to establish where the cheques found had come from and how they were obtained by the gambling joints. He gave assurances that if investigations came up with incriminating information, arrest warrants would be issued.
In the past, such campaigns by the police eventually led nowhere and the gambling joint owners carried on their illegal activities. This had more to do with police ineptitude than corruption. For a clampdown against organised crime to be effective, there must be strategic thinking and detailed planning, something the police have never been able to put together, opting instead for the random raids before Christmas.

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.