HANOI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Police of Vietnam's central Da Nang city have busted an online football betting ring with total transactions of nearly 1 million U.S. dollars, arresting five local people, including the ringleader, Vietnam News Agency reported on Thursday.
The police detained the 33-year-old ringleader named Ho Van Linh and four other men, all of whom currently live in Da Nang, and seized 4,800 U.S. dollars and over 400 million Vietnamese dong (17,400 U.S. dollars) in cash, one gun with five rubber bullets, one grenade, three swords and two electric batons.
Currently, all forms of gambling, including on sports, except in government licensed casinos, are illegal in Vietnam.
According to the country's Penal Code, gamblers who place a bet of 2 million Vietnamese dong (nearly 87 U.S. dollars) or more, and bookmakers whose ring has at least 10 involved people will be indicted for criminal offenses.
