South Korean authorities have extradited two alleged operators of separate illegal online gambling networks from the United Arab Emirates, marking the culmination of a years-long international manhunt coordinated by multiple government agencies.
The two suspects, identified only as A and B, arrived at Incheon International Airport on 4th July after being arrested in the UAE through cooperation between South Korean and Emirati authorities. Combined, the two men are accused of operating illegal gambling businesses that processed approximately KRW5.3 trillion ($3.9 billion) in wagers. Authorities said the cases are unrelated and that the suspects operated separate criminal organizations.
Suspect A is accused of running an illegal online gambling operation that handled approximately KRW4.8 trillion ($3.5 billion) in betting volume while based across several Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia. According to investigators, A fled South Korea in 2014 and spent more than a decade moving between jurisdictions to evade capture before being located and arrested in the UAE after 12 years on the run.
In addition to illegal gambling offenses, A is accused of evading KRW66 billion ($48.6 million) in taxes. Authorities said further investigations will examine allegations relating to drug offenses, prostitution and suspected involvement in the death of a South Korean national in Malaysia in 2018.
The second suspect, B, allegedly operated a separate illegal gambling network that processed approximately KRW500 billion ($367 million) in wagers. Prosecutors allege B worked with members of a domestic criminal organization and recruited middle and high school students to act as so-called distributors for the illegal gambling business.
The extraditions were coordinated by South Korea’s Special Response Task Force for Transnational Crimes, a multi-agency unit comprising the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Intelligence Service, Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, National Police Agency, Korea Customs Service, National Tax Service and Financial Services Commission.
Authorities said the task force spent years tracking the suspects through intelligence analysis, international cooperation and financial investigations, including tracing criminal proceeds and identifying accomplices operating across multiple jurisdictions.
