One of the major dangers of addiction is falling in with the wrong crowd. Many individuals with compulsions eventually have difficulty paying for their habit and they resort to crime for funding. At The Star Casino, this situation is being taken to the extreme, as gang members are recruiting problem gamblers as drug mules to pay off their debt.
According to sources, an Asian crime syndicate is targeting female gamblers who appear to be losing large sums of money while playing table game at The Star Casino. Players who are in need of cash are offered loans with 200% interest that must be repaid within the week. In extreme cases, they must be paid back within 24 hours.
They are unable to make the payment and the given the option of working of their debt by offering their services. Usually, the job consists of flying to Asia and collecting packages of ephedrine. The material is then used distributed across Sydney and used in the production of crystal meth. The operation was uncovered by local authorities after an international student was discovered to have wagered $80 million at The Star Casino.
His behaviour was suspicious because he was able to wager huge sums of money but was only in the country on a temporary student visa. It was eventually determined that he was involved in money laundering being carried about by crime syndicates that also operate ‘loan shark’ schemes. When a problem gambler is desperate for cash, anything seems like a good idea.
Local authorities insist that casino patrons exercise caution when meeting strangers at gambling venues who offer deals that seem too good to be true. “It is always of concern when people are recruited into organised crime through debt,” says Scott Cook, Detective Superintendent. “People borrowing money from strangers at high interest rates need to be aware of the risk they are placing themselves and their family members in”.
The Star Casino has also stated that it is working hard to stop this type of crime from taking place on its property.
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