Prison officials in Hong Kong said Saturday that they had broken up a major
football gambling syndicate inside one of the city’s maximum-security jails.
Eight thousand packets of cigarettes believed to have been used to stake
bets on English Premier League and European Champions League matches were
seized in the operation. Nearly 100 hand-made soccer betting slips were also
seized in the raid Friday inside Hong Kong’s Shek Pik Prison, a spokesman
for the territory’s Correctional Services Department said. Prison workshops,
cells and activities were raided by 81 officers during the operation, said
the spokesman, who added that disciplinary action would be taken against
inmates involved in the gambling ring. Betting on football is hugely popular
in the gambling-mad city of 6.8 million people, where English and European
matches are broadcast live via satellite and cable TV channels. The only
legal forms of gambling in Hong Kong are twice-weekly horse races and
football bets placed through the official Hong Kong Jockey Club.