Police have arrested more than 500 people and seized over USD14 million in a major gambling crackdown targeting illegal betting on Euro 2016. The operation focused on betting agents in Dongguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shantou, according to RT.com.
Authorities believe that the raids are responsible for breaking up a substantial online gambling organization and money tied to overseas betting websites was seized or frozen. In total, 543 suspects were detained, according to the report.
For those that have not been following the highly anticipated tournament, Euro 2016 is now in its semi-final phase, with Germany, France, Portugal and Wales left competing. The competition started with 24 teams representing 24 European nations.
"The soccer betting gang has attracted large sums of wages since Euro 2016 kicked off on June 10,” said Liang Ruiguo, deputy director of the criminal investigation bureau of the MPS. "Special efforts will be made to crack down on gambling fans, bankers, key members and beneficiaries."
Gambling is illegal in China and police regularly have their hands full when enforcing anti-betting laws. According to RT.com, Chinese tech companies Alibaba and Tencent have implemented anti-gambling systems to catch illegal betting on their products – such as the wildly popular WeChat.
“If we find suspicious accounts, then we are going to freeze the account directly,” Alibaba spokeswoman Miranda Shek told the South China Morning Post. “It only takes a few hours from the first to the last step.”
During the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, over RMB4 billion dollars was wagered through technology companies (such as the two mentioned above) utilizing a legal loophole.
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