China’s anti-gambling crackdown has resulted in over 11,500 arrests and the seizure of US$32.4b in illegal gambling proceeds in the past four months.

On Monday, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced that it had prosecuted 257 criminal cases since launching its campaign against illegal cross-border gambling on February 28. The campaign also targeted ‘related crimes’ ranging from telecom fraud, money laundering, kidnapping, abduction, trafficking and human smuggling.

The Ministry claimed to have ‘destroyed’ 368 gambling platforms, 148 criminal groups, 187 underground banks and ‘other financial institutions’ while closing over 27k bank accounts, resulting in the confiscation of RMB229b.

The Ministry is also investigating over 200 bank and regulatory staff for possible collusion with illegal gambling operators, while a ‘large number’ of gambling suspects have been put on the country’s blacklist for traversing China’s borders.