Bahrain authorities took part in a major operation that led to the arrest of some 1,400 suspects across Asia and Europe, as part of a global illegal gambling and money laundering ring.
Interpol yesterday announced that hundreds of specialised officers across 28 countries including Bahrain took part in Operation SOGA VIII (short for soccer gambling) that led to thousands of raids in which several individuals were arrested.
“Authorities seized $7.9 million in cash, as well as computers and mobile phones connected to nearly $465m in bets,” the Lyon, France-based Interpol said in a statement.
The operation was co-ordinated by Interpol’s Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption units, with support from the Asia-Pacific Expert Group on Organised Crime (APEG) and the Interpol’s Match Fixing Task Force (IMFTF).
The world’s largest police organisation mentioned Bahrain among the list of ‘participating countries’, and it is the only one among the GCC states that took part in the mega operation.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry has a dedicated Interpol section which in the past has helped track down suspects that fled Bahrain or were missing.
Meanwhile, the latest operation included detention of more than 800 suspects by the Hong Kong police including the alleged kingpin of a triad-controlled bookmaking syndicate, seizing nearly $2.7m in cash and records detailing hundreds of millions in bets, making it one of their most successful operations against illegal gambling ever.
“Our collective experience helped us anticipate links between betting syndicates and their illegal counterparts during Euro 2020,” said head of the Hong Kong Police’s Organised Crime and Triad Bureau and Interpol’s Asia-Pacific Expert Group on Organised Crime, Wong Wai.
“This, ultimately, led us to organised crime groups acting on a global scale and generating huge profits.
”SOGA VIII saw its strongest participation by European countries, as well as a range of law enforcement agencies, in order to target illegal gambling from various angles.
Italian authorities carried out a nationwide operation during Euro 2020, resulting in the inspection of 280 betting shops and 1.3m euros in sanctions for illegal betting operations.
Interpol’s eight SOGA operations till date have resulted in more than 19,100 arrests, seizures of more than $63m in cash and the closure of more than 4,000 illegal gambling dens which handled more than $7.3 billion worth of bets.
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