The Kosovo Police, in cooperation with the tax administration and the Kosovo Customs, conducted an operation yesterday in 33 cities in Kosovo during which 235 casinos and betting shops were searched and 35 of them were closed. Customs seized 118 gambling machines, while some betting shops and casinos which were closed did not have a work permit, which was also the reason behind this operation, the Kosovo Police announced in an urgent press conference held in Pristina.

While the Kosovo Police was holding a second urgent press conference, this police operation was still underway, the director of the Department for Organized Crime, Agron Nezaj confirmed.

Nezaj also stated that 35 casinos were closed, adding that the investigation into the operation of these facilities started at the end of last year.

Director General of the Tax Administration, Hamit Mulaj underlined that “none of the betting shops or casinos” have a permit, which was “the reason for this action.”

The Kosovo Police also conducted this operation in North Mitrovica, where they searched 21 betting shops and casinos.

Members of the Kosovo Police, along with members of the special intervention unit, also gathered yesterday, in the late afternoon, in Lola Ribar Street where several betting shops are located.

The former mayor of North Mitrovica, Goran Rakic, accompanied by Srpska Lista Vice-President, Igor Simic, and a representative of entrepreneurs from north of Kosovo, Rados Petrovic were also present at the scene.

„The situation is calm but tense and we are trying to keep things under control. We do not want to protect criminals or those who deal with illegal actions, but we want the situation to be calm. This is our priority, and I think we will succeed in that,“ Goran Rakic told KoSSev.

The Kosovo Assembly adopted a „Resolution on the suspension of casino activities and games of chance and amendments to the relevant law“ yesterday.

The adopted resolution urges the Kosovo government to start legal procedures to stop activities of all kinds of games of chance – until the law changes. This resolution also provides a mandate to the Assembly Committee on Budget and Finance to initiate procedures for the drafting of a new law that prohibits the work of casinos and facilities in which games of chance are held for a period of ten years, Kosovo media reported.

See at: https://bit.ly/2U0NtBp