Chinese anti-gambling initiative results in many arrests for online gambling activities

2/25/10 – The latest Chinese multi-ministry crackdown on illegal gambling began early February  and up to February 20th has already netted 918 suspects allegedly involved in 210 online gambling crimes, the China Daily reported this week, quoting officials in the Ministry of Public Security.
 
Gu Jian, vice director of the bureau of cyber security in the ministry, said enforcement officials also cracked another 122 less serious cases and punished 351 people in the same period. He did not provide further details about the cases.
 
Eight Party departments, government ministries and financial regulatory bodies including the MPS and the People's Bank of China, jointly launched a planned seven-month-long nationwide initiative to curb online gambling on February 8 2010.
 
The campaign, according to an earlier statement from the MPS, targets "major and severe cases, and would arrest domestic and foreign groups that organise online gambling and severely punish the offenders."