Suspects in the OK9-Lương Sơn TV gambling ring in custody. — Photo bocongan.gov.vn

QUẢNG TRỊ — Authorities in the central province of Quảng Trị have awarded commendations to nine police, prosecution, and border guard units for dismantling a gambling platform that moved an estimated US$58 million a month, and for dismantling separate smuggling networks trafficking explosives and fireworks across the border with Laos.

The awards, issued September 21 under a decision from the provincial People's Committee chairman, carried cash prizes of VNĐ10 million ($384) to VNĐ30 million ($1,153) per unit.

The Border Guard's Operations Division received the largest award for its work on the explosives cases, while the Provincial Police's Criminal Police Division and several other police, prosecutorial, and border-post units were honored for breaking up the gambling ring.

Investigators cracked the gambling operation – a betting platform called 'OK9-Lương Sơn TV' – after provincial police joined forces with the Ministry of Public Security's Criminal Police Department.

A coordinated raid on July 6 exposed a tightly run, entirely online criminal enterprise. The group had started out operating from Bavet, a Cambodian border town, before relocating into Việt Nam earlier this year.

Members worked remotely under aliases, communicated through encrypted apps, and routed their activity through VPNs and overseas servers, regularly switching domain names to cover their tracks.

Wages were paid in the cryptocurrency USDT, and funds moved through bank accounts registered to other people.

Police said the platform had thousands of active player accounts and generated more than VNĐ1,500 billion (roughly $58 million) a month in betting and unauthorised broadcast transactions.

On July 24, prosecutors opened a criminal case and charged 16 people with organising and taking part in illegal gambling.

Border guards broke up the explosives ring in two sweeps: the first, on July 23, netted Hồ Văn Ngọc Trường with 74 kilogrammes of explosives; the second, on August 7, caught Nguyễn Duy Khánh moving explosives near the border.

Confronted with the evidence, Khánh led investigators to a further stash of homemade mines, explosive charges and detonators. Together, the two busts recovered more than 210 kilogrammes of explosive material.

A third case, code-named QT126, targeted the fireworks trade. Before dawn on August 2, border guards and customs officers stopped a Laotian-registered truck entering Việt Nam and found nearly 500 boxes of fireworks – over 600 kilogrammes in all – hidden inside, along with 35 methamphetamine pills.

The two Laotian men detained in the truck told investigators they had been paid to smuggle the fireworks into Việt Nam for resale and said the drugs were for personal use. — VNS