Police in China’s southern Guangdong province have broken up yet another major online gambling ring.
On Thursday, the state-run Xinhua media outlet announced that the Shenzhen public security bureau had rumbled an illegal gambling operation in a series of raids in the cities of Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Jieyang. The raids occurred on March 20, but the details are only now coming to light.
Over 150 suspects, including the five alleged ringleaders, were detained in the raids, after the public security bureau of Jieyang City launched an investigation in February. Police also seized computers, bank cards and other gambling paraphernalia.
Police claimed the ring had nearly 2k agents and promoters responsible for collecting cash from and paying out winnings to the ring’s roughly 50k registered punters. The ring reportedly operated numerous gambling sites and generated estimated profits of over RMB400m (US$62.7m) before police kicked in the doors.
China has announced a flurry of similar busts in recent months, including a different one in Guangdong on March 12, and more rings are undoubtedly under surveillance in the run-up to next month’s kickoff of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The quadrennial event is a busy time for both China-facing bookmakers and the police determined to prevent them from competing with the state-run Sports Lottery.
Chinese authorities are also getting more creative in tracking down illegal land-based gambling operations. This week, police in Hubei province arrested 12 gang members and 49 patrons of an illegal gambling den that had eluded police in the cities of Wuhan and Xiantao by continually shifting its operations to new venues.
Undeterred, the Wuhan Public Security Bureau employed aerial drones to surveil a suspected gambling site, providing a three-dimensional view of the property that allowed police to more constructively plan their raid to ensure no one managed to escape.
