Vietnamese police announced on July 7 that they arrested 85 individuals connected to two large-scale illegal betting rings worth an estimated US$133 million. The crackdown comes as the government intensifies efforts to combat illegal gambling during the World Cup.
Online gambling is banned in Vietnam, but illegal operations persist, especially during major international sporting events. The raids conducted in late June targeted two betting rings described by Ho Chi Minh City police as having an "exceptionally large scale of operation" with a "high level of hierarchy and tight control."
Since October, these rings logged approximately US$133 million in illegal transactions. Leaders of the operations admitted to receiving "master-level betting accounts from individuals in Cambodia," which they subdivided into numerous agent and member accounts to distribute to gamblers online.
Vietnam's public security ministry also reported dismantling 73 gambling operations nationwide last week, arresting 346 suspects involved in illegal gambling and football betting during the first 20 days of the World Cup. Colonel Bui Tuan Anh of the ministry stated, "Transaction money in these cases totalled thousands of billions of dong (hundreds of millions of dollars)."
This year's World Cup matches are hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with the final scheduled for July 19.
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