Two foreign nationals arrest for unlawful commercial gaming

Officers of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) arrested two foreign nationals for unlawful commercial gaming after a raid conducted last night at Capital Park, East of Honiara on 22 December 2018.

Supervising Provincial Police Commander (PPC) Central Police Station, Superintendent Barry Rush Saukiu says, “The arrest come after a search warrant granted by court and was issued to police to executed and served to the employee of the company operating the Illegal casino.”

PPC Saukiu says, “Base on the formal complaint from the Solomon Islands Gaming and Lotteries Board on 30 November 2018 on unlawful operation of a casino, police apply for a search warrant and executed it yesterday.”

Mr Saukiu says, “Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1975 only allows two casino permits to be issued to companies within Honiara. The act made no mention of issuing any other Casino permits to companies in the Provinces.”

He says, “The two casino permits allowed by the Act were granted by the Gaming Board to Supreme Casino and Coral Sea Casino. In compliance with the Act, no other casino permits were issued to any other companies apart from those two.

Superintendent Saukiu says

“Some business houses may obtain gaming licenses from Provincial Authorities and treat it as legal to operate commercial gaming but according to the gaming board that is illegal because the Board did not issue them with any Commercial Gaming Permits.”

“The confiscated items were detained at Central Police Station as exhibits for the complaints of Unlawful Commercial Gaming and Unlawful Possession of Gaming Instruments contrary to sections 9 and 10 of the Gaming and Lotteries Act,” says PPC Saukiu.