Police have detained 48 suspects and frozen gambling money valued at more than 45 million yuan ($6.43 million) after busting a major soccer betting syndicate in a special operation simultaneously launched in five Guangdong cities earlier this month.
According to a statement released by Guangdong Provincial Department of Public Security on Sunday, 146 computers - portable and tablet, 561 bank cards, 221 mobile phones, eight POS machines and some other betting equipment, plus a large number of account books and documents and cash valued at 923,100 yuan were seized on site, said the statement.
The raid launched in the cities of Jieyang, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan and Shanwei on December 6 has given a heavy blow to the online gambling events and helped effectively block the expansion and spread of online gambling in the domestic cyberspace during the ongoing Qatar World Cup competition after busting the major gambling gang, the statement said.
Guangdong police have detained 48 suspects and frozen gambling money valued at more than 45 million yuan ($6.43 million) after busting a major soccer betting syndicate in a special operation launched earlier this month. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The raid was launched after three months of investigation and collection of evidence, the statement said.
A special task force has been established to focus on investigating the case where police in Jieyang city were tipped off at the beginning of September, it said.
The gambling gang, headed by a man surnamed Zhuo and his wife, was investigated for opening online casinos and organizing cross-border online gambling events in the previous months.
Guangdong police have detained 48 suspects and frozen gambling money valued at more than 45 million yuan ($6.43 million) after busting a major soccer betting syndicate in a special operation launched earlier this month. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Also, more than ten relatives and friends of Zhuo were discovered to be core members in Zhuo's gang.
The month-long World Cup is usually the peak period for illegal soccer bets, but police have enhanced their investigations and redoubled their efforts in the fight against online gambling during the period, it said.
