Under China's watch, Macau won't return to 'gangsters' paradise'

Three murders, hammer-wielding heavies, and a high-profile police swoop have raised concerns that Macau, the world's casino capital, may be backsliding to the bad old days of the late-1990s. And that's even before ex-triad boss "Broken Tooth" ends a 15-year jail sentence in December. All this at a time when China's economy, the world's second-biggest, is growing more slowly - hitting gambling revenue and possibly making junket operators, who collect gambling debts in exchange for commission from casinos, more aggressive.

But on the former Portuguese colony's narrow, bustling streets and inside the glitzy, fortress-size casinos, there's little indication the violence is spiraling out of control in the only place where Chinese nationals can legally casino gamble.

Much has changed in the past 15 years in Macau, a special administrative region on China's southern coast. Then, the seedy gambling enclave was plagued by open gang warfare. Bombs went off in the streets and shoot-outs broke out in broad daylight.

In 1999, Macau seceded from Portugal to China and, now, Las Vegas tycoons including Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn have helped transform the territory into a multi-billion dollar goldmine, a magnet for high-rollers and global investors. Gaming revenue last year was US$33.5 billion, more than five times that of Las Vegas.

The key, say security forces, political analysts, lawyers and academics, is that China is in control.

"Number one: the Chinese government will not tolerate it (rising violence). Number two: if you look at the structure of the VIP room operation in Macau, it's a completely different story from 1998," said Davis Fong, a director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau.