Macau, China, July 16, 2026 (Lusa) - Crimes related to gambling in Macau rose by 12.2% year-on-year in the first half of the year to 1,278 cases, mainly due to illegal currency exchange, the authorities announced on Thursday.
The Secretary for Security, Chan Tsz King, stated at a press conference that 259 of these cases involved illegal currency exchange for gambling purposes, representing a year-on-year increase of 7.9%.
In addition, there were 87 cases of illegal money lending and six cases of disputes relating to security deposits, representing year-on-year falls of 13.9% and 53.8%, respectively.
“Cases of fraud occurring in casinos are generally linked to illegal currency exchange networks,” Chan told journalists.
In the first half of this year, the authorities dismantled around 250 cases of illegal currency exchange, arrested 322 individuals linked to exchange networks and seized cash and chips totalling more than 16 million Hong Kong dollars (€1.9 million), according to the official.
Chan added that in April, the Macau Judiciary Police, in coordination with mainland Chinese police, launched an operation that dismantled a cross-border currency exchange network. Twenty-five people were arrested, and around 5.7 million Hong Kong dollars (€670,000) in cash linked to the case was seized.
The following month, the police carried out 59 operations targeting illegal currency exchange networks.
Overall, in the first half of the year, 6,628 crimes were recorded in the territory, representing a 1.1% reduction compared with the same period in 2025.
In the first few months of 2026, the authorities recorded 1,006 cases of fraud, down 10.8% year-on-year, of which 283 were telecommunications and cyber fraud cases (down 38.5%).
The figures show that during the period under review, there were 129 violent crimes, a 4% increase year-on-year.
Regarding youth crime, 87 cases were recorded between January and June (+7.4%).
Also during today’s press conference, the Secretary for Security announced that these crime reports to journalists will now be issued every six months, rather than every three months, stating that “crime figures for a three-month period do not show any significant changes”.
In April, the 2025 crime statistics were published on the website of the Secretary for Security’s office without the usual press conference, and it was announced that the quarterly briefings would be suspended.
Two days later, Macau’s largest Chinese-language newspaper criticised the authorities for “closing the doors to the public”.
JW/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
