An underground casino is busted in Xi’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. File Photo: CFP
With the arrests of over 60,000 suspects and blocking of a bunch of illicit funds, China's Ministry of Public Security on Wednesday day announced that it had made excellent progress in striking cross-border gambling amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with assistance from other authorities.
By the end of September 2020, public security organs across the Chinese mainland had dealt with over 8,800 cross-border gambling cases this year, arrested over 60,000 criminal suspects, cracked down on over 1,700 gambling platforms, busted over 1,400 illegal payment platforms and underground banks, and identified over one trillion yuan in illicit funds.
GT reporter learned from the ministry that it has worked closely with police in related countries to arrest 590 Chinese gambling suspects overseas amid COVID-19 pandemic.
The progress made is also due to the efforts from the Chinese foreign ministry, which has been actively communicating and coordinating with the countries involved to be more supportive in combating cross-border gambling.
China's public security bodies have successfully cracked down on money laundering channels and networks promoting and recruiting gamblers, effectively deterring the activities of international gambling groups seeking to infiltrate China, the public security authority said.
In a coordinated effort to promote comprehensive governance, the ministry and the People's Bank of China examined and dealt with over 8,000 pieces of information related to the bank accounts of gambling platforms, and implemented severe punishment measures.
In a joint effort with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the ministry has cracked down on more than 35,000 overseas gambling websites, and blocked the spread of over 73 million harmful phone messages.
The National Immigration Administration and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism also established mechanism to prevent Chinese citizens from traveling to overseas cities for gambling.
Observers believe that the moves by the ministry have formed an effective deterrent against gamblers and achieved a positive social influence expected.
Officials from the Ministry of Public Security said that the ministry always pays close attention to cross-border gambling crimes, and will continue to work with other departments to curb cross-border gambling and maintain economic security, social stability and the national image.