According to the New York Times, 27 people have been arrested in connection with an offshore sports betting operation, with authorities still on the lookout for three others. The operation, which apparently took in more than half a billion dollars in just over two years, offered odds on football, basketball, hockey, and many other sports.
According to the district attorney of Queens, Richard A. Brown, evidence has been uncovered that the bookmaker operation had links to two New York organized crime syndicates, the Gambino and Genovese crime families.
Since sports betting is illegal in most of the US, accounts were maintained from a Panama center, with various web sites and toll-free telephone numbers used to accept wagers.
Now, the first thought that came to my mind was this: if US lawmakers do not officially sanction, regulate and tax sports betting, only the naïve will believe that the citizens in whose interest they claim to rule will not partake in sports betting. Of course, many people continue their efforts at making (or losing) some hard earned, only thing is, organized crime controls it.
Sound familiar? In the twenties and thirties enough US politicians also got it in their heads that alcohol corrupt the citizenry, so they outlawed its use. Who benefited? Al Capone, and organized crime syndicates.