Turkey seeks to arrest 400 in 'illegal gaming' crackdown

Turkish authorities have issued arrest warrants against nearly 400 people across the country for their alleged involvement in illegal online gaming, Istanbul police said on Friday.

The crackdown targeted 394 suspects in 40 cities -- 207 of them in Istanbul, the police said in a statement. 

They are charged with violating the law on online gambling, with some three billion lira ($570 million) channelled through the bank accounts of 72 companies and the suspect individuals.

The front companies made to hide the illegal gambling activities — mainly sports betting —  were established in the cosmetics, logistics and food sectors.

Some 5,000 police officers have taken part in the raids.

Turkey has strict legislation on gambling, which it struggles to implement with betting on football — the nation’s favourite sport — remains a popular phenomenon and a source of income for gambling addicts. 

Last year, Turkey implemented a law to make it easier for authorities to seize revenue from illegal betting organisers, which are being bypassed by gangs who have managed to avoid monitoring of bank accounts. 

Authorities say they have upscaled cooperation with banks to detect accounts used by gangs.

Meanwhile, the authorities run a state lottery and betting service in a country where football is the most popular sport.

Agencies contributed to this report.