Police transferred after gambling bust

Police transferred after gambling bust

Members of a network of parents and students stage a campaign against online gambling. (Bangkok Post file photo)
Members of a network of parents and students stage a campaign against online gambling. (Bangkok Post file photo)

Six senior officers at Bangkok's Huai Khwang police station have been abruptly transferred to inactive posts after a police raid on an online gambling operation.

Seven South Korean nationals were arrested on charges of operating an illegal sports betting network. Investigators said the gang had operated in Bangkok for more than three years before being caught, taking in as much as 90 million baht a month.

The network was uncovered when a combined team from the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) and Huai Khwang police station, armed with a search warrant, raided a room on the 19th floor of the Belle Grand Rama 9 condominium off Ratchadaphisek Road on Friday.

They found the Korean men, aged 29 to 40, sitting at computers providing online sports betting. Officers seized five PCs and four laptops, according to Thai media reports.

Pol Col Akkharadet Pimolsri, the acting CSD chief, said the raid followed a tip-off that there were several foreigners staying in the room and they had not been seen leaving it for several days. The informant suspected the occupants might have been involved in illegal activity and called the police.

He said the suspects had rented two adjoining units for 60,000 baht each per month. They did business in one unit and slept in the other. Investigators said the operation generated between 30 million and 90 million baht a month in cash. Most of the punters were South Korean nationals.

To avoid being arrested, the gang kept changing rooms at luxury condominiums, he added.

Police have charged the seven Koreans with unlawfully operating online gambling, illegal entry, and working illegally in the country. They were being held at the Huai Khwang station while authorities contacted the South Korean embassy.

Pol Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri, the national police spokesman, said the Metropolitan Police Bureau subsequently signed an order to transfer six senior Huai Khwang officers to assist with work at the agency.

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