B.C. GAMBLING BINGE BRINGS CRIME WAVE

Loan-Sharking, Money-Laundering, Kidnapping Up -- As The Liberals
Predicted

Everything is unfolding just as Liberal MLA Kevin Krueger predicted
when he warned government about the risks of gambling expansion.

Addictions. Suicides. Families destroyed.

Crime -- especially organized crime -- on the increase.

The latest bad news comes in the annual report of the province's
Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, which reveals a crime explosion
at casinos and "community gaming centres." Investigations into serious
offences like loan-sharking and money-laundering more than doubled
last year. Overall, the branch launched 3,414 investigations -- a
36-per-cent increase.

Here on Vancouver Island, the branch launched about 340
investigations, up 13 per cent from the previous year.

It's no surprise. Krueger warned government about expanding
gambling.

"There is a huge increase in crime, right from breaking into vending
machines in order to have money for slot machines, on up to
white-collar crime and into really heinous crimes as well," he said.

Criminals like casinos. They're a good place to move counterfeit
money.

The branch investigated 1,155 reports of counterfeit offences, up
about 3.6 per cent from the previous year.

And casinos are a great place for big-time drug dealers and gangs to
launder the proceeds of crime. It's simple to buy $5,000 worth of
chips, make a few safe bets and then cash in and leave with a casino
cheque. Criminals can even declare the income. (The federal government
does require casinos to report unusual transactions or suspicious
activity. But it's hard to track every gambler and, as an Alberta RCMP
report noted, casinos are reluctant to risk alienating good
customers.) Then there are the crimes with individual victims.

Problem gamblers and addicts make wonderful customers for loan
sharks.

They're desperate and ashamed, but can't quit. They have jobs and cars
and homes -- at least for a while -- so the lender can usually collect.

The gambling enforcement branch investigated 192 reports of
loan-sharking last year -- almost four new files opened every week.

In Richmond, home to the province's largest casino, RCMP are seeking
extra officers to deal with abductions. They report at least five
kidnappings in the last 18 months linked to gambling debts.

It's all unfolding as the Krueger and the Liberals predicted when they
were in opposition. That's why they promised to stop the expansion of
gambling.

Instead they went wild, tripling the number of slots, launching
Internet betting and pushing mini-casinos into small towns like
Campbell River, part of a plan to recruit more gamblers and increase
their average loss. (That's another reason Premier Gordon Campbell
said he opposed gambling in the past. Its purpose is to create losers,
Campbell said, and he didn't want a province of losers.) Meanwhile the
Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch budget has been cut for three
consecutive years. The government is spending six per cent less now on
enforcement than it did in 2003-4.

In that time the number of slot machines in the province has
doubled.

The number of casinos and mini-casinos has increased by more than 50
per cent, taking slots into small communities in every corner of the
province.

Naturally, enforcement efforts can't keep up.

Last year the gaming branch launched more than 2,000 investigations
into criminal activity. The result was 11 Criminal Code charges. It
started 650 investigations into Gaming Control Act violations. For the
second year, not a single charge was laid under the act.

The branch says its enforcement efforts are relatively new, explaining
both the increasing activity and the lack of charges.

But the crime wave is exactly what the Liberals said would result from
a gambling expansion.

Krueger, Campbell and the rest also warned about social problems. And
the branch's annual report shows they were right again.
Problem-gambling calls to its help line jumped to 5,830 last year --
an 86-per-cent increase over the previous year. More slots, more
promotion, more gamblers means more addicts and people whose lives are
damaged.

B.C. Lotteries' service plan -- approved by the government -- sets
targets for increasing the number of gamblers in the province and the
average amount each one loses. About 2.2 million British Columbians
gambled regularly last year, according to the corporation. The plan is
to persuade another 235,000 people to start betting regularly by next
year. Based on the most widely quoted research, more than 9,000 of
those people will develop a gambling problem that damages their lives.

More crime, new opportunities for gangs, more addicted and problem
gamblers and more damaged families.

It's all unfolding just the way the Liberals predicted.

Footnote: Public concern about gambling expansion seems to be increasing.
B.C. Lotteries tracks public approval of gambling and has been forced to
downgrade its targets in the face of growing public concern. And Terrace has
just become the first community to reject a bid to install slots in a new
"community gaming centre," deciding the social and policing costs outweigh
any short-term benefits.