China’s state-run media says the nation is losing its war against illegal gambling in rural areas.

On Monday, the state-owned People’s Daily newspaper published an op-ed detailing the Lunar New Year crackdown on illegal gambling by authorities in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

According to the official numbers, some 25,426 police officers were assigned the task of stamping out illegal gambling in the northern territory, and the final figures showed police filing 2,367 administrative cases and 76 criminal cases of illegal gambling activity, along with the seizure of some RMB 3.5m (US$554k) in cash.

The dedication of some of the officers – or the lack of care shown by their superiors – shouldn’t be understated. The report claimed that one group of 40 plain-clothes officers walked 10 kilometers in -30° temperatures to get the drop on walkie-talkie-wielding sentries guarding the roads leading to a warehouse where illegal gambling was going down.