Vietnam smashes football betting racket, deports South Koreans

Vietnamese authorities have arrested six during a raid on an online betting racket in Ho Chi Minh City, while in a separate case 33 South Koreans were deported after being caught gambling illegally, local media reported.
The raid, the day before the World Cup quarterfinals, netted $70 million.
Police say they seized 11 ATM cards, seven cell phones containing texts related to gambling, 4 taels of gold and numerous gambling receipts.
The bets were placed on M88.com with the money transferred to bookmakers abroad through local intermediaries, the reports said.
The South Koreans who were deported were allegedly providing online sports betting, through a server operated in South Korea by a gambling kingpin. The unidentified person sent them to Vietnam to supply the service, but only to people outside of the country, the report said.
Bets and winnings were transferred through the local banking system.
The violators confessed to having supplied the service illegally because it is very difficult to obtain a license to provide gambling services in South Korea.
The 33 were fined before being deported, it said, without giving the size of the fine.