Prison officers seize HK$1.3 million in betting slips as World Cup anti-gambling operations stepped up in Hong Kong jails

Correctional Services Department says 45 inmates caught placing bets or possessing gambling materials as 3,000 searches carried out this year

Reading Time:2 minutes

A prison officer displays some of the tricks that inmates use to hide gambling material. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 6:11pm, 11 Jun 2018Updated: 11:02pm, 11 Jun 2018

Hong Kong prison officers seized about HK$1.3 million (US$167,670) in betting records during 3,000 searches conducted in the first five months of the year as they stepped up anti-gambling operations ahead of the soccer World Cup.

The Correctional Services Department said on Monday that 45 inmates were caught placing bets or possessing gambling tools such as betting slips and playing cards. They mainly used cigarettes as betting chips, along with goods bought in the prison shop, daily necessities and waste items such as paper, cloth and wood.

With the 2018 World Cup kicking off on Thursday, the department has been strengthening its anti-gambling operations with more searches and night raids in correctional facilities from the beginning of this year.

An officer displays an illicit betting slip. Photo: Felix Wong

The department said inmates who engaged in illicit betting would face disciplinary penalties, including the loss of privileges such as the right to borrow books, remission or deduction of salary, and separate confinement.

Superintendent Wat Pak-hang said the department believed inmates got their information on matches from the radio or visitors.