690 bookies nabbed over World Cup betting, says Bukit Aman

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Aman has nabbed 690 bookies in connection with the illegal betting on the World Cup in Qatar.

Police secretary Deputy Comm Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin said the bookies were nabbed during the football matches between Nov 19 and Dec 21 in a special operation codenamed "Ops Soga".

"A total of 530 raids were conducted by Bukit Aman CID during the same period.

"The most number of arrests were made in Selangor with 179 bookies detained, followed by Kuala Lumpur (142), Johor (59) and Negri Sembilan (57)," she said in a statement on Friday (Dec 23).

Among the items seized were RM22.3mil worth of betting credits, more than RM500,000 cash of different denominations, 74 computers, 47 laptops, 817 mobile phones, 386 SIM cards and 120 betting slips, she said.

"We opened 530 investigation papers (IPs). A total of 87 IPs have obtained convictions, 202 IPs have gone to prosecutions while 338 IPs are still under investigation," she added.

DCP Noorsiah said Bukit Aman CID is committed to curbing illegal gambling.

"We urge those with information on illegal gambling to contact 016-5773477," she added.