South Korean law enforcement has made 14 arrests after a gambling ring based in the Philippines was uncovered in Gangwon province. The Gangwon Provincial Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Unit reported on November 6 that it had busted those involved with the illegal gambling operation, including the brainchild behind it, which police have named A.
Law enforcement was tipped off to the scheme after it had arrested another illegal gambling operator. Using this information, South Korean police were able to track the information to track financials, structure, and how the operation worked.
Police uncovered that the entire operation had made over 5.3 trillion won, around $3.4 billion. This was done between September 2024 and March 2025, with A coming up with the scheme while in prison for other gambling-related charges. A had made 266 different sites, which he would hand over to others and skim 3 million won ($2,056.43) off the top each month.
In September, we reported that authorities sent forty-nine suspects back to South Korea, where they now face investigations tied to several ongoing cases.
Of those individuals, forty-five were already on Interpol Red Notices, and together they had a total of 154 domestic warrants issued against them.
Suspects flee South Korea after massive gambling ring bust
However, while A and 13 others were arrested, Gangwon Provincial Police lost two suspects who have now fled the country. A police official from South Korea said:
“We have taken pre-indictment seizure and preservation measures on 3.3465 billion won in criminal proceeds.
“We have requested an Interpol Red Notice for two organizational members who fled overseas.”
A used the Philippines to create a “vendor company”. These act as the middleman, providing games to various websites, often tied with overseas or illicit companies.
South Korea and parts of Asia, where gambling is illegal, have seen an explosion of gambling activity in recent years. It has never been easier to slip sites into countries like Japan and Korea, and harder to crack down on them as more methods of skirting the law with tools like VPNs.
It has become such a problem that South Korea has actually opened its first rehab specifically for “problem gamblers”.
Featured image: Wikicommons
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