Hubei police crack cross-border gambling ring
Police in Hubei province have successfully cracked a cross-border gambling case that involved more than 400 billion yuan ($59 billion) and more than 130 suspects, officials at a news conference in Jingmen city of Hubei said on Monday.
The search for overseas suspects lasted 59 days and concluded with the arrest of three suspects who were repatriated from abroad in December.
The case was opened in July 2021, when the public security office in Jingmen's Shayang county discovered an app for phone chess and card games being used as an online gambling platform.
Money active on the platform had reached more than 400 billion yuan, and moved abroad in the form of digital currency.
To solve the case, a task force was formed in Hubei. The police cracked 14 related criminal operations and detained more than 130 suspects domestically, including in Fujian, Sichuan and Henan provinces, officials said at the news conference.
Most of the domestic gangs acted as intermediary agencies, while the scheme's organizers were in foreign countries.
The police also seized more than 300 computers and cellphones, 200 bank cards and phone SIM cards and 18 money counting and other machines.
