World Cup betting raids grow across Asia

• Chinese police seized $148,000 and arrested eight suspects in a Zhejiang gambling raid.
• Malaysian police arrested 32 Chinese nationals in a Kuala Lumpur betting syndicate bust.
• China’s legal football lottery sales jumped 97% week-on-week as the tournament got under way.

Chinese police have launched a nationwide crackdown on unauthorized World Cup betting operators, dismantling cross-border gambling networks in Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces as illegal wagering surges alongside record legal lottery sales.

Police in Kuala Lumpur have separately arrested 32 Chinese nationals in a raid on an online football betting syndicate operating from a shop office in Cheras.

Zhejiang, Sichuan raids

In one of the largest recent operations, police in Jiande, a county-level city administered by Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, dismantled a cross-border gambling network targeting football fans. Officers seized about $148,000 in illegal customer deposits and arrested eight suspects.

Three alleged organizers remain in pretrial detention in the Jiande case, while the remaining suspects received administrative penalties. Investigators believe additional people may still be involved in the network.

In a separate case in Jiangyou, Sichuan province, police arrested four suspects accused of running an illegal World Cup betting website. Officers seized more than 300,000 yuan ($44,000) and said the group promoted betting links through WeChat and other social platforms, using temporary payment channels and frequently changing accounts to evade detection.

Police have carried out similar raids in Guangxi province and Xi’an as part of a broader campaign against illegal gambling during the tournament.

Legal lottery sales climb

The enforcement drive comes as China’s legal football lottery market records strong growth. Football lottery sales reached 6.87 billion yuan ($956 million) between June 8 and June 14, up 97% on the previous week, according to the China Sports Lottery. The period only partly overlaps with the tournament, which kicked off on June 11.

Retailers have reported a jump in customer traffic since the tournament began, with some outlets generating daily sales of up to 100,000 yuan.

Authorities have urged football fans to avoid unauthorized betting platforms, warning that operators often lure users with promises of guaranteed profits before exposing them to fraud.

Kuala Lumpur syndicate busted

Meanwhile, police in Kuala Lumpur raided an online football betting syndicate operating from a shop office in Cheras, arresting 32 Chinese nationals, comprising 29 men and three women aged between 20 and 40. Officers seized 28 computers, along with mobile phones, internet modems and other equipment believed to have supported the operation. No cash seizure was disclosed for this raid.

Investigators said the group managed customer betting accounts, supervised transactions and promoted online football gambling through the website 6288.com. Police believe the syndicate had been running for about three weeks. All 32 suspects were remanded for four days, until July 4, to assist with the investigation.

Fadil said the Kuala Lumpur force would continue to intensify Op Soga XI throughout the tournament, targeting betting agents, organizers and individuals involved in physical and online gambling. Op Soga XI is a recurring Royal Malaysia Police enforcement operation, launched on June 10 ahead of the tournament and running nationwide until July 19.

Beijing and Kuala Lumpur are both signalling that enforcement will keep pace with the tournament rather than ease off in its later stages. As long as fixtures keep drawing heavy betting interest, unlicensed operators are likely to keep testing how far regulators on both sides of the South China Sea are willing to go to shut them down.