Ministry of Interior secretar of state Sok Phal said that the ministry would continue to shut down illegal gambling dens in Preah Sihanouk province and other provinces, while over the past eight days some illegal gambling establishments agreed to stop on their own.
Sok Phal, who is also the head of the national working group to crack down on illegal gambling, made the remarks at a meeting with the Preah Sihanouk provincial police command.
“In fact, local authorities have cleared up a lot of gambling in villages, communes and districts, but there remains a few places. We continue to clean out illegal gambling dens in Preah Sihanouk and other provinces alike,” he said.
“For other places suspected of illegal gambling who have business licences from the finance ministry, we will inspect them later to see whether their licences are still effective or expired. We have yet to inspect those places this time,” he added.
At the meeting, Sok Phal made mention of the orders of Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, saying that all illegal gambling activities must be discontinued and the authorities have to find out if crimes such as human trafficking and money laundering were also taking place.
The Preah Sihanouk provincial administration said that on the orders of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the interior minister, the national working group had raided five illegal gambling dens and found foreigners there of various nationalities.
