PARIS, July 16 More than 5,000 people have been arrested in a swoop on illegal gambling on World Cup soccer across Asia and police have seized nearly $10 million, Interpol said on Friday.

The global police cooperation agency said raids on nearly 800 illegal gambling dens between June 11 and July 11 targeted illicit betting linked to organised crime in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China.

“As well as having clear connections to organised crime gangs, illegal soccer gambling is also linked with corruption, money laundering and prostitution,” said Jean-Michel Louboutin, executive director of police services.

The coordinated police operation, codenamed SOGA III, was not about match-fixing, a spokeswoman for Interpol said.

Illegal gambling dens, including some in Hong Kong and casino haven Macau had taken more than $155 million in bets.

Police also seized cars, bank cards, computers and mobile phones during the raids, which were coordinated by Interpol's general secretariat headquarters in Lyon and its Bangkok Liaison Office.

“The results we have seen are impressive, not only in the number of arrests and seizures made across the region in just one month, but in terms of the police cooperation which made this possible,” Mr Louboutin said.

The three SOGA operations carried out so far have led to nearly 7,000 arrests, the seizure of over $26 million in cash and the closure of illegal gambling dens that handled more than $2 billion worth of bets.

Gambling is highly restricted in most of China, ensuring brisk trade for Macau in the country's south, which has overtaken America's Las Vegas as the world's largest gambling market.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong police said they had smashed a vast, cross-border bookmaking syndicate targeting the FIFA World Cup which had taken in around $1 billion of illegal bets. During that operation, 74 people were arrested in Hong Kong and 29 in mainland China.

The syndicate was the largest of its kind to be uncovered by police in the former British colony and it is believed that most of the bets were placed on soccer matches.

Also this month, Chinese state media reported that police had smashed a secretive online betting network with the alleged ringleader accused of dealings worth 100 billion yuan ($14.76 billion).—Reuters