Rise of the machines is upon us, as, according to Chinese media outlets, the police will start using drones to seek and destroy illegal gambling operations.
Virtually all gambling is banned in China, with severe punishment reserved for illegal gambling houses. The only exception is Macau, which was not a part of mainland China for the longest time and is still a part of “one country, two systems” model that grants it a right to have casinos.
Despite potential punishments, illegal gambling is widespread in China. The use of drones has started last year and since then, more than 50 people were arrested.
These include illegal gamblers in regular urban environments, but more interestingly, one of the gambling operations took place in the jungle, where the drones were able to fixate the violators with the cameras equipped on the drones.
Drones are not only used to seek out specific gamblers but to prevent gambling occurrence of regular people.
In February, for example, drones were reportedly scouting the living quarters of citizens to prevent gambling during the Chinese New Year.