China's police have cracked about 347,000 gambling cases and confiscated more than 210,000 gambling machines so far this year in a national crackdown, it was announced on Wednesday.
Police closed more than 30,000 gambling venues and busted over 10,000 criminal gangs producing gambling machines or running casinos during the campaign, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Public Security.
Police also detained more than 5,700 suspects and confiscated illicit funds worth about 4.36 billion yuan (about 697.73 million U.S. dollars).
The crackdown has targeted the research, production and marketing of gambling machines, as well as gambling venues, according to the statement.
Police also conducted precision strikes on online casinos by cracking related criminal gangs and tracing the circulation of gambling funds.
For casinos based outside of the country, police, especially those in the border areas of southwest China's Yunnan Province, took measures to bar Chinese citizens from crossing the border to gamble, the ministry said.
Special efforts were made to net those who canvassed Chinese citizens to gamble overseas or through online video, according to the ministry.
In a joint movement, police in more than 100 cities nationwide publicly destroyed over 60,000 gambling machines on Wednesday.
The ministry said gambling breeds crime and endangers economic security and social stability, adding that the police will maintain a heavy-handed approach against the practice.
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