Recently, the Thai police launched a large-scale raid and successfully dismantled a major online gambling group spanning five provinces, arresting 13 suspects and seizing assets worth over 50 million Thai Baht (approximately 1.96 million Singapore dollars).
According to the Bangkok Post, Major General Vitaya, the director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of Thailand, reported the details of the case on Monday (May 5).
He stated that the gambling group had been active in the northeastern region of Thailand for a long time, causing serious social and family issues. Many gamblers have gone bankrupt due to addiction to online gambling. Meanwhile, members of the gang flaunted their lavish lifestyles on social media, including luxury cars and gold jewelry, which angered the public.
In this raid, the police arrested the core figures of the criminal network—a couple aged 53 and 30—at a holiday villa in Pattaya. Both have admitted to charges including operating an illegal gambling platform and money laundering among other offenses.
The 50 million Thai Baht in assets seized by the police included:
23 luxury cars
49 property deeds
46 pieces of luxury goods and gold jewelry
30 bank accounts and 29 withdrawal cards
Vitaya pointed out that the criminal group used fake construction and car rental companies as a cover to disguise the flow of funds, and transferred illegal proceeds to "mule accounts" owned by relatives and accomplices through multiple bank accounts and electronic wallet channels, thereby evading regulation.
Suriyasat, the officer in charge of this operation, revealed that over the past two years, the total amount of gambling transactions by the gang had exceeded 600 million Thai Baht. He emphasized that the police will continue to track down the remaining suspects and cooperate with financial institutions to freeze all related accounts to prevent the flow of illegal funds.
This operation highlights the Thai police's determination to combat online gambling and financial crimes, and has also sparked widespread public concern about the dangers of gambling and online money laundering activities.
