
PATTAYA — Police raided the base of a Chinese gang involved in illegal lending and online gambling operations at a pool villa complex in Pattaya.
A group of 20 Chinese nationals had rented three adjacent houses in a Pattaya village. Unlike typical tourists, they were not seen going out sightseeing. Instead, they were engaged in running online gambling businesses and providing illegal loans.
After receiving a tip from an informant, Pattaya City Police obtained search warrants for the three houses. On October 3, they conducted raids:

In the first house, they found six Chinese men busy answering phones and contacting loan customers. A Cambodian woman was working as a housekeeper. The police seized over 100 phones and 4 laptop computers.
In the second house, eight Chinese nationals were found on the second floor, along with 9 computers and numerous mobile phones.
In the third house, five Chinese individuals were present. When the police entered, two of them were operating computers but quickly shut them down upon seeing the officers.

Police Major General Chatchai Suracharphong, Deputy Commander of Region 2, revealed that the three houses were interconnected in their operations:
- The first house was responsible for recruiting people into online gambling.
- The second house ran the illegal loan operation, providing loans to other Chinese nationals.
- The third house claimed to be a supply depot, where the other two houses would come to collect food. However, the police stated they needed to conduct further investigations to confirm these claims.
In total, the authorities detained 20 Chinese nationals and one Cambodian housekeeper. They seized computers, mobile phones, and an undisclosed amount of cash as evidence. All suspects were handed over to investigators and charged with working without permission.
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