The latest prosecution statistics released by the Chinese government in its drive against illegal online gambling show that since February 2010, some 3,430 suspects have been detained and prosecuted, and almost 600 million yuan (US$88 million) has been seized.
The campaign has cracked more than 670 cases of online gambling and broken up 26 gambling organisations with overseas connections, a news release issued Monday by the Public Security Ministry said.
The campaign has gone so far as to close websites publishing gambling information and the addresses of gambling websites.
It also shut down websites providing services to gamblers such as third-party payment platforms.
Supported by the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the campaign has been effective in curbing foreign online gambling groups, reports the Xinghua news agency.
The crackdown is scheduled to finish in August.