Interpol hails Asian crackdown on 2018 FIFA World Cup wagering

Global crime fighters Interpol are trumpeting their successful collaboration with Asian police forces in combatting illegal betting on the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

On Friday, Interpol released stats on its Operation SOGA VII, which involved cooperation with enforcement agencies in China – including Hong Kong and Macau – Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand to ensure the least amount of people had fun during the most recent quadrennial football competition.

Interpol claims this latest operation resulted in 14,900 raids on illegal gambling dens that handled around $1.6b worth of World Cup wagers. Authorities seized over 1,000 computers and mobile phones along with over $1.7m in cash.

Interpol’s announcement made no mention of the total number of arrests in this summer’s operation, saying only that the seven SOGA operations to date resulted in over 30k arrests, the seizure of $57m in cash and the closure of 3,700 gambling dens.