HONG KONG, June 1: Hong Kong police detained four men Saturday for allegedly accepting 20 million Hong Kong dollars (2.6 million US dollars) worth of bets on the football World Cup.

The four were the first to be arrested since the amended gambling ordinance took effect on Friday. The new law makes it a criminal offence for Hong Kong residents to place bets offshore or to run illegal gambling activities.

“Four men were arrested during an operation on anti-soccer bookmaking during which officers seized betting slips worth 20 million dollars,” a police spokeswoman said.”

The men remain in custody to help ongoing police investigations.

In a separate operation on Friday, police arrested 23 men in Yuen Long, New Territories. The arrests also led to the crackdown on a soccer betting syndicate during which 11 mobile phones and two computers were seized.

Speaking during a radio programme, chief superintendent of police public relations Charles Wong said he believed the two groups were linked.

He vowed the “force will continue to investigate illegal bookmaking activities” during the month-long World Cup which kicked off on Friday.

The new gambling ordinance states that anyone in Hong Kong caught placing a bet with an overseas bookmaker risks a fine of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars (1,284 US) and three months in jail.

Overseas gambling operators would also be committing a criminal offence by receiving bets from Hong Kong, even if they are licensed in other countries.

Hong Kongers are passionate gamblers even though the horse races and the twice-weekly Mark Six lottery organised by the Jockey Club provide almost the only outlet for a legal punt.

The new law was drafted after fears that offshore betting was eroding the revenues of the Jockey Club which is taxed by the Hong Kong administration.

ENTRY REFUSED: In Tokyo, Japanese immigration authorities said Saturday they had refused entry to three other suspected English football hooligans whose names were on a blacklist of troublemakers.