China, which prohibits gambling outside of certain regions, has cracked down on yet another illegal gambling operation. Following enforcement action carried out this weekend, the police arrested 93 people and seized around $125 million (figure has been converted to USD).
As a result of the raid, the illegal iGaming platform is no longer available. Investigators will leverage data secured during the raid to make additional arrests if needed.
The operation was carried out in Zhaotong, a city in the province of Yunnan. As reported, the action was the culmination of an investigation that started in 2021. The culprits ran an online gambling scheme, in violation of China’s gambling rules.
The Operation Took Many Months
The authorities did not rush the investigation and instead, created a team that was tasked with understanding the gambling operation and learning its true extent. The illegal gambling operator ran multiple websites, all of which operated on highly-advanced software.
In addition, the illegal operation leveraged multiple game tools and had many regional representatives. The government, therefore, had to plan carefully before initiating action.
Following sixteen months of investigations, China finally launched raids on the illegal operator. The police raided a total of nine locations, some of which were outside the Yunnan province. As noted, the action resulted in the arrests of 93 people and the seizure of $125 million. In addition, the police reportedly seized 27 computers and 80 mobile devices.
China Continues War on Illegal Gambling
At the beginning of this month, China’s Ministry of Public Security published a report on its progress in cracking down on illegal gambling. In six months, the local law enforcement managed to take action against 10,000 criminal cases and 75,000 administrative cases related to gaming, primarily taking place in rural areas. Throughout the operation, local authorities seized a total of $104 million.
The ministry’s crackdown on gambling in rural areas began in November. Since then, the reports related to illegal gambling have been steadily declining, attesting to the efficiency of the operation.
To make sure that no more illegal gambling rings sprout up, China implemented monitoring policies and has so far established a total of 101 monitoring stations across the country.
Illegal gambling organizations in China would often target addicts and unemployed people, making them extra dangerous to public health. Qi Xiguo, an official of the Ministry of Public Security, promised to keep on working to protect Chinese citizens from illegal gambling.