Thai police targets 500 illegal gambling sites in one fell swoop

Thai police is once again on the move with the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) announcing a yet another high-profile mission targeting the illegal gambling sector in the country. Over the past years, Thai authorities have gone above and beyond to ensure that the tide of illegal gambling is stemmed once and for all. On Monday, the CSD conducted a large-scale operation dubbed "Hanuman vs. online casino mafia," which took place across 14 provinces and resulted in more than 63 premisesraided.

The operation saw as many as 350 police officer and law enforcement agents take place led by Police Major Gen Montree Thetkhan. Among the provinces targeted were Bangkok, ChiangMai, Khon Kaen, Nonthaburi, and others. Multiple arrests occurred during the operation, with officers nabbing a number of low-level criminals in the organization which is said to have been running 500 gambling websites which the police targeted.

It was not immediately confirmed whether the police has actually been able to shut down the websites, however. According to authorities, the gambling business was run based on a franchise model, with 109 owners and 2,000 peopleemployed by each franchise, creating internal competition to push for better results.

A total of 30 people were arrested during the raids and $1.3mworthofassets and cash was seized from the suspects. Some of the locations combined both an illegal gambling operation as well as a cryptocurrency mining farm. Police has been working hard in Thailand to make sure that it keeps the country from the thousands of gambling websites and businesses that are hosted on its territory.

Thailand has been seriously considering to introduce both online and land-based gambling, hoping to see five casino resorts and perhaps open Internet gambling as a way to stop the proliferation of illegal gambling websites such as the ones targeted by authorities in the most recent operation.

Most of these websites also targeted Chinese citizens. China has been particularly sensitive about such overseas criminal networks trying to lure its citizens away or make them spend money abroad on illegal gambling. China has picked fights with many local governments exerting its charm offensive to convey to countries such as The Philippines and Cambodia that it would prefer for them to shutter any gambling operations that purposefully try to lure Chinese citizens.

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