Seventy-five people have been detained by the police in raids carried out simultaneously in eight Turkish provinces as part of an İstanbul-based operation for allegedly engaging in illegal betting, local media reported on Friday.
The suspects were detained in an operation conducted by 730 special operations police and officers from the cybercrime branch of the İstanbul Police Department in İstanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Balıkesir, İzmir, Rize and Mardin provinces following eight months of surveillance.
According to Turkish media reports, members of a criminal organization led by a suspect identified only by the initials Ö.G. have been found to provide unfair profit and have nearly TL 1 billion ($55,661) of ill-gotten funds in their bank accounts, extending as far as North Macedonia. It has also been revealed that the organization carries out illegal activities through the front companies they have established in İstanbul.
A large amount of digital materials and documents were seized during the operations, local media reports said.