SINGAPORE: Police have busted an illegal 4-D syndicate after a 10-hour long island wide operation on Wednesday.

Computers, telephones, a thumbdrive, fax machines and S$173,000 in cash were seized and 15 people arrested.

Other items seized included foreign currency and betting records.

Eleven men and four women aged between 22 and 53 were caught during raids which took place at several locations including Jurong West, Bukit Batok and Sungei Kadut.

Police say the operation resulted in the most number of arrests and the highest amount of cash seized this year.

Preliminary checks reveal that members of the syndicate collected illegal bets from a pool of trusted punters.

The orders were then combined before the records were faxed to a collection centre.

Police say they have successfully crippled the syndicate's operations, and eight of the suspects will be charged in court on Friday.

Any person convicted of running an illegal public lottery may be punished with a fine of up to S$200,000 and imprisonment for up to five years.

- 938 LIVE/ CNA/yt