South Korean president thanks UAE for detaining three suspects — Korea Herald

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung thanked the authorities of the United Arab Emirates for their assistance in detaining three alleged leaders of a large network of illegal gambling websites. Two of those detained were brought to South Korea on October 14.

Cooperation with the UAE

As Korea Herald reports, the detentions were made possible through cooperation between UAE authorities and a South Korean interagency task force combating transnational crime. Lee Jae Myung published a post on X in Korean and Arabic, expressing gratitude to the UAE government and the country's president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

According to the interagency task force, the suspects allegedly operated illegal gambling websites whose transactions reached 2.6 trillion won. Investigators believe the network's activities were linked to the Philippines and Malaysia, while its members also laundered criminal proceeds.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Suspicions against the organizers

The suspects left South Korea in 2016 and, according to authorities, hid in Malaysia and other countries, using third-country passports to conceal their identities. Lee Jae Myung said they allegedly involved even secondary school students in criminal activities.

The president said that criminals would not be able to avoid punishment by hiding abroad. He also announced plans to search for suspects outside the country, return them to South Korea and recover criminal proceeds.

In July, the South Korean interagency task force had already cooperated with the UAE in detaining and returning to the country two alleged leaders of an illegal online gambling operation whose transaction volume amounted to 5.3 trillion won.