DRUG MAN 'SAD' LOSS TO CASINO

THE head of the NSW Casino Control Authority is sorry police banned one of
Sydney's biggest heroin traffickers from Sydney Harbour Casino in
1997. Casino records show Dong Van Ia, who was sentenced to eight years'
jail in 1998 for supplying heroin, gambled $94 million in just six months
at Sydney Harbour in 1996, including $24 million in one month. He was the
casino's number two customer.

"I'm sorry to see the money go out of NSW, but I'm speaking personally for
myself," authority head Kaye Loder told ABC program Four Corners.

She said she would not necessarily support background checks for
high-rollers who brought in huge sums of cash to the casino.

"If you have a legal casino, at least you regulate the gambling that is
available and the State obtains some benefit from the revenue," she said.