Photo: IC

Police in Yibin, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, have recently cracked a Qatar-World Cup-related cross-border soccer gambling case which involved over 140 million yuan ($20.07 million) with the participation of over 700 gamblers. Twenty-two suspects have been detained.

Local residents of Xuzhou district in Yibin reported to the police about the criminal gangs who took advantage of overseas gambling websites to organize people to participate in online gambling, media reported on Tuesday.

The police conducted a centralized operation in multiple places including in Nanxi district in Yibin and in Chengdu city, successfully cracking down on the first soccer gambling case in Yibin since the beginning of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

A total of 22 suspects were apprehended and the case involves over 140 million yuan including more than 1.15 million yuan in cash seized at the scene. Other items seized at the criminal scenes including mobile phones, computers, bank cards and account books.

According to the investigations, the gambling gangs have been promoting the gambling platform through overseas gambling websites, mobile applications and social networking apps such as QQ and WeChat since the beginning of the Qatar World Cup.

They profited from the criminal activities of cross-border soccer gambling by organizing over 700 gamblers via phone calls and WeChat messaging to participate in the gambling.

At present, all the relevant personnel involved have been dealt with criminal compulsory measures in accordance with the law and the case is under further investigation.

The local police reminded the soccer fans to watch the games rationally, resist bad temptations proactively and refuse to participate in all kinds of online gambling during the World Cup.

Global Times