In a massive operation targeting betting activities related to the 2024 European Football Championship, Thai law enforcement officers shut down more than 200 websites and seized a staggering 2.4 billion baht (about 3.8 billion pesos) in gambling funds, police reported.
As the UEFA Euro 2024 football tournament draws to a close this Sunday, police have stepped up their crackdown on online and offline betting activities. The large-scale operation began on June 14, coinciding with the start of the UEFA Euro 2024 final, and will end on Thursday, July 11.
Lieutenant General Akradet Pimolsri, Assistant Director of the National Police, revealed that a special working group was established on June 14 to deal with football betting cases. During the operation, the task force arrested 3,863 people suspected of gambling-related crimes.
Of those arrested, 3,017 were arrested in physical casinos. They included 50 suspected bookmakers and 2,944 suspected gamblers. In addition, the police successfully shut down 224 local gambling websites and arrested 846 suspects. Of these, 145 were believed to be website operators and 701 were confirmed to be gamblers.
The collective betting activities on these websites involved a circulation of up to 2.4 billion baht, highlighting the widespread impact and scale of illegal betting activities related to the 2024 European Football Championship.
