$2.9 billion in gambling assets seized

Police nationwide have arrested 108 Internet ball gamblers and confiscated 18 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) in illegal assets during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from June 12 to July 13, the Ministry of Public Security said on Sunday.

Police also smashed a number of major Internet gambling rings during the World Cup, the ministry said.

"Most of the servers involving online soccer gambling were located overseas, and the foreign suspects colluded with their domestic counterparts to operate the criminal ring," said Zhang Hongqiang, press officer for the ministry.