Overview

Gaming revenues in Canada rose to $4.8 billion dollars between 1992 and 1998, an increase of over 76 per cent.

Historically, illegal gaming has been the domain of organized crime. The threat of organized crime infiltration of legal gaming venues is ongoing.

The criminal element is well aware of the fact that illegal gaming offences are not an investigative priority in a number of provinces. There is little incentive to allocate scarce investigative resources to illegal gaming investigations, particularly where sentencing for non-violent crimes is minimal.

Casino loan sharking activity that targets compulsive or pathological gamblers creates additional risk. Gamblers who become indebted to these criminals may resort to crime to pay off debts and support their addiction.

Illegal gambling machines produce tremendous profits. Non-declared income from these machines is used by criminals to finance other criminal activities such as drug trafficking, money laundering and enterprise crime offences. Other gambling offences include illegal foreign and domestic lotteries, unauthorized pull-ticket distribution, bookmaking and illegal gaming houses.

There is no doubt that organized crime benefits from illegal gaming. In recognition of this, Criminal Intelligence Service Canada undertook a national illegal gaming initiative in 1998, in partnership with the Ontario Illegal Gaming Enforcement Unit.

The Ontario Illegal Gaming Enforcement Unit (OIGEU) comprises 40 investigators working in five regions of the province. In 1998 the main challenges for OIGEU were video gambling machines, illegal gaming houses (card rooms) and bookmaking operations. Over the course of the year OIGEU seized 950 video gambling machines valued at approximately $3 million. Gaming equipment from illegal card rooms was seized and cash confiscated from those operations. Four hundred and ninety-five people were charged with 787 gaming related offences. Those convicted paid over $1 million in fines, forfeitures and surrendered proceeds of crime.

It is this type of proactive stance with regard to illegal gaming that Criminal Intelligence Service Canada hopes to promote with its national illegal gaming initiative.
 

Outlook With the implementation of illegal gaming as a project in CISC and a corresponding increase in illegal gaming-related intelligence, the extent of the problem will become clearer.

Back   Index  Home