~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnam clamps down on World Cup gambling ring

HANOI - Four men in southern Vietnam have been arrested for running a betting ring on World Cup matches, police said Monday. The four men were taken into police custody Sunday after a raid on a hotel in the southern Mekong Delta province of Can Tho where police confiscated US$4,300 (euro3,400) and 12.6 million dong (US$790; euro625) of the betting money, a city police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

He said two of the men were permanent residents in the United States _ Ha Lai Ninh, 38, from Texas and Thai Dac Phat, 39, from Florida. The other two were Vietnamese. The police officer said the two only returned to Vietnam recently and began running the betting ring on Friday when the World Cup kicked off in Germany. Betting on soccer matches is illegal but rampant in soccer-crazed Vietnam.

The Associated Press - June 12, 2006.