Thirteen people were arrested when police busted an online lottery operation, with more than 7 million baht placed in bets, in Bangkok’s Lat Phrao district.
The Patrol and Special Operations Division raided a house at Soi Nakniwas 24, off Nakniwas Road, in Lat Phao on Tuesday following a tip-off, division commander Pol Maj Gen Somboon Thiankhao said.
They arrested 8 men and 5 women and seized 14 computers, 2 printers, 2 internet routers, 6 bank account books and the recording system of a security camera set up.
Pol Maj Gen Somboon said they were acting on information that betting on underground lotteries via a website was being run from the house. The investigators obtained a court search warrant and entered the premises. They found people accepting bets on the second-floor.
One of he 13 people arrested, Paweenat Kasemsaruan, 31, admitted to being the caretaker of the house.
The suspects confessed they had rented the house for 30,000 baht a month and used it as a base for an underground lottery betting operation for the last five months.
They used social media channels such as Facebook and Line chat to get customers.
They took bets for underground lotteries in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Malaysia, and also took bets on share index movements, with 7.5 million baht currently in circulation.
Police charged them with colluding in running an online gambling operation or persuading people either directly or indirectly to bet, and illegal assembly in violation of the emergency decree.
All were handed over to Chokechai police for legal acton.