Police surround and intercept gamblers
Police count the gambling funds
The police controlled 91 gamblers. Yanzhao Metropolis Daily reporter Guo Xiaofeng, intern Chou Chen - text and photos
In a remote mountainous area at the boundary between Xingtang County and Quyang County, there was an abandoned mine pit where three shabby tents had been set up. There were also designated "lookout" personnel nearby. Surprisingly, a major gambling den was hidden in this environment. Recently, the Xingtang police successfully dismantled this den, controlling 91 people on-site who were gambling, of which 34 were women. On the spot, they confiscated over 200,000 yuan in gambling funds and impounded 26 vehicles present at the scene.
■ The gambling den is surrounded by mountains on three sides with multiple lookout posts nearby
In early December, the Xingtang County Public Security Bureau received a tip from the public that there were always unidentified vehicles with Baoding license plates entering and exiting a certain abandoned mine pit nearby, suspecting illegal gambling activities there. After receiving the report, the police conducted secret investigations around the reported clues and soon confirmed that there were large numbers of people gathering to gamble in this abandoned mine pit.
The police investigation found that the gambling den was highly organized, with designated "lookout" personnel stationed every so often along the way. These lookouts were extremely alert when other individuals appeared. To maintain confidentiality and understand the gambling patterns of this group, officers from the Xingtang County Public Security Bureau secretly investigated the surrounding areas of the den multiple times, eventually mastering the detailed gambling situation. Gambling usually began around 3 PM in the afternoon and ended around 10 PM at night. The majority of participants were from the Baoding region, with fewer than 20 or more than 100 people gambling at any given time. Besides parking their cars at the gambling site, the organizers also had a designated parking lot one kilometer away from the den, with dedicated personnel managing the vehicles.
It was understood that this abandoned mine pit was about 30 meters deep, with only a dirt road accessible from the south side, while the other three sides were surrounded by earthen hills. Inside the pit, three makeshift tents were erected. One was used for gambling and had a small generator for lighting during gambling sessions. The other two tents were for the gamblers to rest in, where they could boil water and make instant noodles. At night, they could only use candles for light, making the conditions very rudimentary.
■ Over a hundred police forces act under cover of darkness, arresting 91 gamblers on-site
After understanding the situation, the Municipal Public Security Bureau deployed 80 SWAT officers to assist the Xingtang County Public Security Bureau, requiring them to ensure the complete capture of the gang without fail.
At around 8 PM on December 9, over a hundred police forces split into three groups and took advantage of the night to encircle the gambling den. A group of over 60 SWAT officers bypassed five kilometers of mountain roads, avoiding the lookout positions set up by the gambling den, quietly reaching behind and on both sides of the casino to intercept it. Another group of 20 police officers advanced layer by layer via the main road, eliminating nine lookout personnel along the way to the den. When the two arrest groups formed a complete encirclement around the entire den, all the police turned on their high-intensity flashlights and quickly rushed toward the three temporarily built tents where the gamblers were distributed, controlling 91 people on-site, including 34 women, and confiscating over 200,000 yuan in gambling funds on the spot. Meanwhile, the third group of police surrounded the parking lot set up by the gambling den, seizing 26 vehicles belonging to the involved gamblers.
■ Professional gamblers hiding within, repeatedly organizing gambling leading to online warrants
Through preliminary investigations by the Xingtang police, it was discovered that the gambling den began its operations in early December. More than 90% of the gamblers came from various places in Baoding such as Quyang, Dingzhou, Anguo, Boye, Lixian, and Qingyuan.
Currently, the Xingtang police are organizing forces to investigate the people controlled at the gambling site, further investigating the organizers of the gambling and holding them criminally responsible. For those participating in the gambling, legal penalties will be imposed according to the law. Due to the large number of people involved, further investigation into the case details is still ongoing.
Notably, during the review of the identities of the gamblers, the police uncovered a professional gambler. This individual was male, from Quyang County in Baoding City. Since 2009, he had repeatedly organized gambling activities in a certain village in Quyang County, profiting from it, and was placed on an online wanted list by the Quyang police in June 2009.