Penang police have arrested 31 people, including six Chinese nationals, in a statewide crackdown on illegal football betting as the FIFA World Cup 2026 reaches its final stages.
Penang police chief Comm Datuk Dennis Lim Kwang Keng said the suspects were detained across 26 premises, with the operation still ongoing. As reported by The Star, Dennis Lim confirmed that all six foreign suspects were Chinese nationals.
According to NST, Dennis Lim told reporters after witnessing the disposal of case exhibits at the northeast district police headquarters that illegal betting syndicates no longer operated from specific hotspots. They now run from apartments, houses, shops and other premises, adapting to advances in technology.
“There are no specific hotspots anymore. They can operate from apartments, residential houses or shoplots. With smartphones, illegal betting can be conducted virtually anywhere,” he said.
Dennis Lim said police were focusing not only on arresting runners and operators but also on dismantling the syndicates by identifying their masterminds. He urged the public to come forward with information to help police identify main betting centres.
“We will continue to arrest those involved at the operational level, but our main priority is to bring down the betting syndicates by targeting those behind the operations. To do that, we need information from the public,” he said.
As the tournament progresses into its final stages, Dennis Lim said enforcement efforts would be stepped up. The operation would continue until 19 July to curb football betting activities linked to the tournament, and police would release a comprehensive report once it concluded.
Before the latest raids, Penang police had arrested 28 people and dismantled two football betting call centres under Op Soga XI, targeting illegal gambling during the World Cup. Earlier police disposed of seized case exhibits worth RM1.276 million after obtaining court orders. The disposal involved 565 investigation papers from the northeast district and included 1,722 cartons of contraband cigarettes, 1,913 bottles of liquor, 25 entertainment equipment units, 726 gambling machines, and 173,000 pirated VCDs and DVDs.
