The number of gaming-related crimes in Macau in the first three months of 2023 climbed 24.4% year-on-year to 158 incidents, according to Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak, with the increase linked to the rise in visitors to Macau and people seeking to take advantage of the recovery in the gaming industry.
The figure was, however, still lower than the same period in 2019.
Wong was speaking at a press briefing on Thursday to announce the quarterly crime figures and enforcement statistics which found that Macau police had recorded a total of 3,006 crime cases in 1Q23, representing a 17.2% increase or 441 more cases than in the same period in 2022. Compared to 1Q19, the total number of criminal cases fell by 10.6% or 358 cases.
By category, crimes against a person grew by 2.3% year-on-year, against a property by 33.2% and against “life in society” by 33.3%. Reported crimes against the territory increased by 39.8% but were down 30.5% compared to 1Q19, while crimes outside of these categories fell by 19.4% year-on-year.
Across the first three months of 2023, there was an aggregate of 62 cases of violent crime reported to the police, Wong said, representing a 44.2% increase year-on-year but down 60.8% on the first-quarter of 2019. There were also 435 fraud cases, higher than both 1Q22 and 1Q19.
However, the most serious forms of violent crime – such as kidnapping, murder, and aggravated assault – were either at zero level or continued to be extremely rare in Macau, the Secretary added.
