46 Qatar World Cup bookie agents held in Johor

Johor police chief Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said all the men, aged between 18 and 72, were arrested in 45 raids carried out since Nov 21.

He said cash amounting to RM34,303, S$500 and 48 mobile phones with sim cards as well as a betting book were also seized in the raid.

"All of them are held for further investigation. The success of this operation is largely the result of intelligence as well as complaints and information channelled by the public," he said in a statement, here today.

He said the case was investigated under Section 6 (3), Section 6 (1) and Section 4 (1) (d) of the Betting Act 1953.

Kamarul Zaman said the main focus of Op Soga IX was to prevent and crack down on betting activities in conjunction with the world cup tournament and arrest individuals who act as bookies or 'punters', apart from raiding places used as gambling locations.

He said the implementation of the operation was also based on the provisions of the Betting Act 1953 and strict action based on the existing law would be taken against any individual who organises such gambling betting.

At the same time, he also called on all parties to channel information related to gambling activities to the nearest police station or the Johor police operations room via 07-221 2999 or 07-225 4677.