Police in Vietnam have broken up a large-scale online gambling ring with processed transactions totaling some VND14 trillion (US$615 million) and detained 14 suspects for investigation.
The Ministry of Public Security confirmed on Sunday that it had coordinated with Hanoi police to crack down on a virtual gambling ring that operated interprovincially at https://bxx, from which gamblers downloaded an app for playing.
Around 200 police officers from 15 teams were deployed to simultaneously raid a series of locations of the racket in Hanoi and the provinces of Lang Son, Kien Giang, Quang Ninh, and Thai Nguyen.
Investigators had interrogated 23 suspects before detaining 14 of them for further investigation.
Local police seized four luxury cars, bank cards, cellphones, and other devices used for gambling activities.
Three of the four luxury cars seized by Hanoi police from the online gambling ring are seen in this supplied photo. |
The total gambling amount gathered by the ring from July 2020 until it was busted has been estimated at VND14 trillion, police said.
The ring was led by three men, namely Pham Cong Anh, Hoang Manh Lam, and Dinh Van Hoang, all from Lang Son Province, who directed 42 agents in different cities and provinces.
This extremely large-scale ring was joined by many people suspected to be loan sharks, investigators said.
Last Wednesday, police also smashed another massive online gambling ring whose transactions topped VND30 trillion ($1.3 billion) in Hanoi and arrested 17 suspects.
Earlier on October 3, Hanoi police detained 18 people after uncovering another virtual gambling racket that had attracted approximately six million gamblers with a total gambling value of VND1.5 trillion ($65.9 million).
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