Interpol talks World Cup gambling busts

The International Police Association (Interpol) has joined police forces around the world in reporting on the number of illegal gambling busts during the World Cup football tournament.

The Agence France Presse news agency reports that an Interpol statement detailed more than 1,400 arrests and almost $12 million seized in an Interpol-led clampdown on illegal World Cup betting, particularly in Asian nations.

Interpol revealed that police officers from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam conducted more than 1,000 raids on illegal gambling dens in the six-week operation.

The Association claims that many of these were operated by organised crime gangs and are believed to have handled $2.2 billion worth of bets, mostly through illegal websites, during the World Cup, which ran from June 1 to July 13.

“The results … are significant in relation to the volume of bets being handled by these illegal gambling dens, as well as the number of arrests,” said Jean-Michel Louboutin, Interpol’s executive director of police services.

“Illegal gambling generates massive profits for organised crime networks which are often linked to corruption, human trafficking and money laundering, which is why a coordinated international response is required to tackle this type of crime,” he said.

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