Taiwan to form police squad to tackle illegal online gambling

Taiwan plans to establish a police team to combat organised crime, including online gambling.

Taiwan.- A designated police squad is being created to focus on organised crime, including online gambling, in Taiwan. The move follows concerns raised by minister of the interior Lin You-chang, who said criminal gangs had expanded their operations into telecom fraud, cross-border money laundering, arms and drugs trafficking, as well as online gambling.

The new squad will collaborate with other administrative agencies to conduct joint inspections and impose penalties on businesses and venues that gangs invest in or operate as part of the National Police Agency’s efforts to enforce a systematic crackdown on organised crime. 

The announcement comes after a series of raids on illegal online gambling in Taiwan. In 2021, Taichung prosecutors indicted 32 people for running a platform that earned them an illicit profit of over US$2.13bn. 

Asia Gaming Brief reported that in November of the same year, 44 people were arrested for running an international gambling website. The group, which consisted of six Japanese nationals, one Chinese national, and 37 Taiwanese, handled more than US$5.84bn in bets. In March this year, authorities made 46 arrests at what was described as a factory-like facility suspected of being used to run an illegal casino.

The only legal forms of regulated gambling in Taiwan are the state-run lotteries. Casinos were legalised in 2009 but to date, no regulated casinos have been built.