Vietnam police arrest 85 in massive World Cup betting crackdown

Vietnamese authorities have carried out a coordinated crackdown on illegal online gambling linked to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Police in Ho Chi Minh City announced the arrest of 85 people tied to two large‑scale betting rings that processed an estimated $133 million (over 100 billion dong) in transactions. The rings, described as having “exceptionally large” operations and a tight hierarchy, reportedly took betting accounts from individuals in Cambodia and redistributed them to gamblers online.

In addition, the Gia Lai provincial police charged 16 individuals for operating an internet‑based football betting network that moved more than 100 billion dong during the tournament’s final stage. A separate raid in Vĩnh Long province caught two organizers and the wife of one suspect, uncovering over 400 million dong in betting slips processed via the Zalo messaging app.

These actions are part of a broader effort by Vietnam’s public security ministry, which earlier reported dismantling 73 illegal gambling sites and arresting 346 suspects in the first 20 days of the World Cup.