Online gambling organiser extradited to South Korea

The South Korean police have revealed that a 40-year-old South Koran national identified only as Lim has been taken into custody on internet gambling charges after being extradited from the Philippines.

The Yonhap news agency reports that the man was involved in organising illegal online gambling in China, and was apprehended and held for 30 hours by the authorities at Manila airport on his arrival there over the weekend, pending extradition proceedings.

The extradition, the first of its kind, came two months after South Korea asked the Philippines to expel South Korean criminals before they enter the country.

Yonhap claims that Lim was on the Interpol wanted list at the request of the South Korean police for allegedly running an online gambling site with total bets reaching some 70 billion won (US$59 million).

Police said Lim opened the website in May 2013 after setting up an office in China’s Shandong Province and earned some 30 billion won in unlawful profits by June 2014.

“Once a wanted man enters the Philippines, it is hard to arrest the person, but this case is significant in that the fugitive was caught at the entry level,” an official from the NPA told the news agency.

“We are planning to sign a memorandum of understanding on this issue (with the Philippines) and gradually increase the number of suspects on the wanted list sent to them.”

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