690 illegal football bookies nabbed nationwide

KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly 700 people have been detained for allegedly being involved in illegal bookmaking on the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Police secretary Deputy Comm Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin said a total of 690 suspected bookies were nabbed in 530 raids, carried out under a special operation, codenamed Ops Soga, during the football tournament between Nov 19 and Dec 21.

“The raids were conducted by Bukit Aman CID.

“Most arrests were made in Selangor with 179 suspects, followed by Kuala Lumpur (142), Johor (59) and Negri Sembilan (57),” she said in a statement yesterday.

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

“We have opened 530 investigation papers,” she revealed.

DCP Noorsiah said the police force is committed to curbing illegal gambling.

She urged those with information on illegal gambling activity to contact the Ops Soga hotline at 016-5773477.