Taiwan police bust USD313m WC betting ring

Taiwan did not qualify for the World Cup, but many people on the sporting-mad island are football fans

Police in Taiwan have seized more than USD300m in World Cup bets after busting an illegal online betting ring, authorities said on Thursday.

Taiwan did not qualify for the World Cup, but many people on the sporting-mad island are football fans.

Police raided a house in the southern city of Tainan on Wednesday, Tainan City Police Department's Fourth Precinct said in a statement. They arrested eight people and seized computers, mobile phones, ledgers and cash, the statement said.

Five of the eight people had travelled from Hong Kong and Macao on tourist visas for the World Cup betting operation. The outfit had allegedly raked in nearly TWD10bn (USD313m) in bets on World Cup matches, police said.

They had rented the five-storey house for the period of the tournament.