More than 1,000 individuals have been arrested for their part in a network offering online gambling in China, according to the state news agency Xinhua. ?A raid on the network resulted in the massive arrests as well as around $53 million in cash frozen in connected bank accounts.
From June 2014 to December 2014, police worked on the case, arresting those involved along the way. 570 individuals have been put in detention according to police from the southern province of Guangdong, based on their involvement.
The group behind the online gambling network were reportedly being led by two men residing in Shantou city of Gaungdong. The men created close to 200 websites by using servers located in Thailand. In Dongguan, hundreds of people were detained by police in 2014 in a crackdown of gambling dens and prostitution.
Besides Macau, gambling is banned within China. There are lottery options and government operated sports betting available on a limited basis, but for the most part, gambling is only available legally in Macau.