Hong Kong police break up triad-run gambling syndicate that took in billions in bets this year
Clifford Lo, 21 June 2021
A triad-controlled Hong Kong bookmaking syndicate that took in more than HK$3.4 billion (US$438 million) in illegal bets on horse racing and football matches in the first four months of this year was broken up in a series of raids on Sunday.
Police on Monday revealed 18 people were arrested in the raids, which a force insider said had netted what he believed to be the largest amount of illegal betting records seized in a single operation in a decade.
Four luxury vehicles suspected to have been bought with criminal proceeds, including two Maseratis, were also impounded by police. Officers from the organised crime and triad bureau found and confiscated the handwritten records on Sunday afternoon when they raided a Tin Shui Wai flat allegedly used by the syndicate as its illegal betting centre.
During the operation, officers froze 70 bank accounts containing about HK$19.5 million that they suspected the racket had earned through its bookmaking business.
