Seized gambling devices destroyed

A police officer guards some of the more than 4,000 seized gambling machines that were destroyed Thursday in Baoshan district. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

Police destroyed more than 4,000 seized video gambling machines in Baoshan district Thursday, municipal police said.

Officers confiscated the machines from more than 120 gambling parlors around the city this month, according to a press release from the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Police have punished about 420 people for breaking the law at the gambling parlors and have confiscated 140,000 yuan ($22,816) in illegal income.

The public security bureau said it started its most recent campaign against gambling parlors on July 12 as a measure to protect students on summer vacation. Police said that operating a gambling business not only violates the law, but also harms the city's youth.

In one typical raid, police busted a gambling parlor hidden in a secret room on the second floor of an indoor market for animation merchandise in Sheshan, Songjiang district.

They arrested 25 people and confiscated more than 12,000 yuan in gambling money and 42 gambling machines.

Police have seen a rebound in the number of gambling parlors in the city over the first half of the year, following their last crack down on gambling in the second half of 2012.

To attack the root of the problem, police have begun targeting the people who provide protection to illegal gambling operations.