Strengthen the fight against crime and gambling problems

From the above situation, the Director of Tra Vinh Provincial Police has issued a plan to focus on implementing measures to fight and eliminate crimes and violations of law related to gambling in the province. Accordingly, police units, districts, towns and cities proactively coordinate with relevant agencies, departments, branches and organizations to promote prevention of law violations. especially related to gambling activities in the area, thereby eliminating many large-scale gambling venues, contributing to reassuring public opinion.

After 4 months of implementation (from November 28, 2023 to March 28, 2024), the provincial police promoted propaganda and dissemination of the law, encouraging people to actively denounce crimes. violations of laws related to gambling. Promote the work of inviting, questioning, educating suspects, and writing a commitment not to violate. Strengthen the work of checking demographics, household registration, boarding houses, motels, and hotels to promptly detect subjects taking advantage of this type of service to conduct acts of organizing gambling and gambling.

Thanks to focusing on prevention, attack, and eradication of many gambling dens, ensuring security and order in the area, the provincial police have eliminated 227 cases, with 1,177 subjects, and seized over 800 million coins. face and many means and tools for gambling. Thereby, 20 cases were prosecuted, with 38 defendants, and administrative violations handled in 207 cases, with 975 subjects, with a total amount of over 1.7 billion VND.

Typically, on March 10, 2024, Tra Vinh City Police coordinated with the Provincial Police Criminal Police Department to check and arrest the following subjects: Nguyen Quoc Vu (53 years old), resident of Hamlet 6, Ward 9; Nguyen Thanh Loc (29 years old), residing in Group 1, Ward 9; Nguyen Phuoc Loc (31 years old), Nguyen Quoc Vinh (39 years old), both residing in Group 3, Ward 6, Tra Vinh city; Phan Anh Quan (22 years old), residing in Xuan Thanh hamlet, Hoa Thuan commune; Le Quoc Anh (46 years old), residing in Phu Khanh hamlet, Song Loc commune, Chau Thanh district; Huynh Nhan Nghia (29 years old), residing in Soc Ruong hamlet, Ngu Lac commune, Duyen Hai district, participated in cockfighting and lost money at Hamlet 5, Ward 9, Tra Vinh city; Prepare a record of temporary seizure of 02 chickens with iron spurs, 01 watch scale, 01 mica plastic sheet, 02 pairs of iron spurs, 16 rolls of tape and more than 10 million VND. During the work process, the subjects admitted to the act of participating in cockfighting to win or lose money, with a ratio of 10 to 9, with an amount of 05 – 5.6 million VND.

The Police Investigation Agency of Tra Vinh City Police has served the decision to prosecute a criminal case, prosecute the accused and temporarily detain the 07 above subjects for the crime of gambling.

Scene of the incident at Group 5, Ward 9, Tra Vinh city. Photo: HO GIANG

Previously, on March 6, the Tra Vinh Provincial Police Investigation Agency served decisions to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused and issued a ban on leaving the place of residence for Nguyen Thi Hong Tham. (32 years old, resident of My Quy hamlet, Hiep My Tay commune, Cau Ngang district) on charges of gambling and organizing gambling; Nguyen Ngoc Hanh Tam (28 years old, residing in Bo Kinh 1 hamlet, My Hoa commune, Cau Ngang district) on the charge of gambling.

According to investigation results, at the end of December 2023, through operational measures, the Provincial Police Criminal Police Department discovered a Facebook account named “Nguyen Tham” (of Nguyen Thi Hong Tham) regularly broadcasting live (livestream) on Facebook to play lottery and win or lose money with many other Facebook accounts, including Nguyen Ngoc Hanh Tam. During the verification process, the police had enough documents and evidence to prove the criminal acts of the subjects, so they erased and temporarily seized many related documents and evidence, such as mobile phones. , lottery sheets, cash, player information record and results. During her work, Nguyen Thi Hong Tham admitted that she used her personal Facebook account to broadcast livestreams to organize lottery games to win and lose money.

On January 1, 2024 alone, Tham organized 13 rounds of lottery games, each round had dozens of participants, of which, there was a round of gambling with the highest amount of up to 11.23 million VND. Also on January 1, 2024, Nguyen Ngoc Hanh Tam participated in the 10th game organized by Nguyen Thi Hong Tham with the amount of 1.1 million VND and won 4.25 million VND. Thereby, Hanh Tam gambled with a total amount of 5.35 million VND.

The video game “fish shooting game” transformed into a form of gambling is also quite popular in Tra Vinh province, with the method and tricks being that people buy “fish shooting game” machines to place at home or rent a place. business point, through social relationships contact gamblers who come to play. During the playing process, points are calculated, then converted into money. After playing, gamblers calculate points and win directly with the table owner.

Specifically, on March 26, 2024, Chau Thanh District Police coordinated with the Criminal Police Department of the Provincial Police to inspect and discover the “Fish Shooting Game” video game service business owned by Ms. Pham Thi. Le Tien (42 years old), residing in Hamlet 5, Ward 4, Tra Vinh city, manages many people participating in playing games and converting reward points into money. At the time of inspection, the police discovered 03 game machines with 08 players, with 04 subjects participating in the game, so they made a record to temporarily confiscate the “fish shooting game” machine, more than 32 million VND, 05 electricity. mobile phones, 02 motorbikes of all kinds. At the police station, the subjects admitted to participating in playing the “fish shooting game” to exchange reward points for money, specifically: 5,000 points converted to 100,000 VND; When exchanging points for money, players directly meet Tien to do so.

To effectively fight crime and gambling problems, police units and localities have done well in preventing and combating crimes and violations of gambling laws. . Regularly review and coordinate with local authorities to take measures to educate and deter criminals.

At the same time, the arrangement of regular police to take on Commune Police positions has made positive changes in ensuring security and order, in which many gambling cases have been detected, arrested, and handled by police. Commune police force directly implements. Although there have been cases that have not been quantified enough for criminal handling, early detection and handling at the grassroots level to prevent the formation of large-scale, complex hot spots have significantly contributed to the work of protecting the public. ensure local security and order.

XUAN THAO