Macau’s total number of crimes reported in the first half of this year dropped by 6.4 percent year-on-year to 6,699 from the 7,159 reported in the same period of last year, while the police investigated 1,139 gaming-related crimes in the first six months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 66.8 percent from the same period of last year, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak announced at a press conference on Friday.
According to Wong, the number of fraud cases recorded in the first six months decreased by 19.1 percent year-on-year to 1,128 from the 1,394 recorded in the same period of last year, among which the number of phone scam cases dropped by 28.7 percent year-on-year to 134, while the number of online fraud cases decreased by 20.1 percent year-on-year to 326.
Wong announced the 2025 first-half crime statistics at the erstwhile S. Francisco Barracks, where Wong’s office is located.
Wong said that the police recorded 124 violent crime cases in the first half of this year, down by 16.8 percent year-on-year, during which one homicide and two cases of causing grievous bodily harm were recorded.
Wong also said that 17 rape cases were reported in the first half of this year, a year-on-year decrease of 50 percent. He said that 60 percent of the rape victims were mainlanders, and all of the cases occurred in hotel guestrooms. He said that some of the rape victims from the mainland were involved in financial disputes with the suspects, adding that the police did not rule out the possibility that their arguments were triggered by commercial sex.
Wong said that 19 cases of child sexual abuse, i.e., cases involving minors under the age of 14, were recorded in the first half of this year, up by six cases year-on-year, adding that most of the cases involved consensual sex with peers of similar age, or were cases where the suspects are relatives of the victims.
Wong also said that the large year-on-year increase in the number of gaming-related crimes reported in the first half of this year was primarily due to the implementation of a new law finally criminalising illegal currency exchanges on and in the vicinity of casino premises, which took effect at the end of October last year.
Wong said that the police recorded 240 cases of illegal currency exchange activities on and in the vicinity of casino premises in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 22.1 percent of the total.
Wong pointed out that in the first half of 2025, there were 1,348 suspects involved in casino-related crimes. Among them, 198 were local residents, or 14.7 percent of the total, and 1,150 were non-locals. A total of 671 victims of casino-related crimes were recorded in the first half of this year – 63 were local residents, or 9.4 percent of the total, while 608 were non-locals.
When asked about the government’s earlier announcement that Macau’s satellite casinos needed to cease operations by the end of the year, Wong said that no related public security issues had been identified so far. However, Wong was quick to add that his office would continue to monitor the development of the situation.
The term “satellite casino” refers to gaming establishments that are formally part of the city’s six gaming concessionaires but the premises of which are, in fact, owned by third parties who are also involved in the day-to-day management of the “satellite” operations.
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak addresses Friday’s press conference about the city’s first-half-of-the-year crime statistics at the Secretariat for Security (GSS) at the erstwhile S. Francisco Barracks. – Photo: Armindo Neves
