South Korea cracks down on illegal gambling, hits $33.6m criminal ring

• The decisive actions of law enforcement in South Korea resulted in the shutdown of 10 illegal gambling and pornography websites
• Suspects, playing a key role in the operation of the gambling websites which were based in the Philippines, were arrested
• The criminal syndicate lured users into illegal gambling via illegal sexual materials and websites promoting gambling activities

Members of a criminal group, involved in a multi-billion-dollar illegal gambling ring were recently arrested in South Korea.

The group allegedly used adolescent and child sexual exploitation materials to lure users into illegal gambling and made profits of more than $33m.

Two primary suspects arrested, two remain at large

Details regarding the decisive operation by law enforcement emerged from the local media outlet, The Chosun Daily.

The large-scale operation by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Cyber Investigation Unit started with an investigation in November last year.

At the time, a complaint was filed by a women’s organization likely over sexual exploitation materials of young women.

During the investigation, the Cyber Investigation Unit cooperated with international agencies, including Europol and the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

This probe identified two suspects, one referred to as Mr. A, a 40-year-old, and Mr. B, a 36-year-old.

The two suspects allegedly held a central role in the illegal gambling and sexual exploitation ring.

Mr. A was arrested earlier this month as he attempted to enter South Korea via Incheon Airport.

After the arrest of Mr. A, Mr. B was detained the next day at a private residence.

The decisive action of law enforcement continued with the issuing of Interpol Red Notices for the arrest of a suspect, described as Mr. C, a 54-year-old and suspected ringleader, as well as Mr. D, a 53-year-old, who allegedly served as an administrator of the criminal organization.

Both Mr. C and Mr. D are suspected of being abroad, and law enforcement is actively working on leads to capture them and bring them to justice.

Operating since August 2019 until earlier this month, the illegal gambling websites’ proceeds reportedly hit the mind-blowing sum of 4.7734 trillion Korean won, or $3.37bn.

Of that total, the criminal group’s earnings from the unlawful activities were 47.6bn Korean won, or $33.6m.

Suspects are facing tough charges

The investigation into the criminal organization uncovered that it operated similarly to a corporate business.

While Mr. C, an ex-deputy leader of another criminal group, is suspected of being the mastermind behind this illegal gambling organization, the group had an established structure with clear responsibilities for each of its members.

What’s known so far is that Mr. A and Mr. B were in charge of operating the illegal gambling websites, as well as websites that promoted gambling and distributed illegal filming content.

Ultimately, the group operated by promoting their gambling websites via secondary websites and luring users into gambling via websites that offered illegal adult content, with some videos even containing footage of child sexual exploitation.

Both Mr. A and Mr. B are facing a number of charges for their alleged involvement.

During the investigation, police found more than 116,000 video files.

The illegal websites also had approximately 2.85m registered accounts and generated 5.3bn views.

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