Hunt for ‘illegal betting ring boss’

POLICE are on the hunt for a man suspected of masterminding an illegal online betting ring after drugs and more than half a million Turkish lira in cash were seized during raids in Girne.

Seven people arrested last week appeared before the town’s district court on Monday and were released on 100,000TL personal bail and sureties of 50,000TL each. Their travel documents were also confiscated and they were ordered to report to police twice a week pending court proceedings.

Two “tourists”, 35-year-old “BA” and an 18-year-old, were arrested during the raids after officers discovered eight grammes of cannabis, which were sent to the State Laboratory for testing, at the address where they had been staying, the court was told.

Police also found almost 535,000TL in cash at the Cosmonet and Cashex premises along with “stamps and seals belonging to different firms”.

It was claimed that the money discovered belonged to a man named as Atakan Ünal who was still at large, the court heard, and that evidence suggested the businesses had been providing “financial services” to gambling websites. A locked safe found by detectives was opened on Monday but its contents were not disclosed.

Police also confiscated 12 laptops, 12 mobile phones, “many sim cards” and documents, and obtained statements from 12 people, the court was told.

In addition to the two drug arrests, five people believed to be connected with online betting were named as Esra Kara, Cenk Kara, Cengiz Kaptan, Neslihan Akdeniz and TRNC citizen Ali Aydoğan.

The group, except for Aydoğan, were released on 10,000TL personal cash bail and 100,000TL sureties. Their travel documents were also confiscated and they were told to report to police twice a week.

Cash of 27,100TL found at Kara’s home was confiscated as evidence.