26 arrested in bust of 1.5 billion TL betting network in Mersin

An operation conducted by cybercrime units under the coordination of the Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor's Office dismantled an illegal betting network established by two individuals identified as B.S. and B.Y. The network operated by distributing tasks across districts through account collectors and a referral system, opening fake companies on behalf of third parties.

During the investigation, bank accounts totalling 1 billion 520 million TL in transaction volume — including 13 company accounts — were identified as being used in violation of Law No. 7258. Following physical and technical surveillance, simultaneous operations netted a large quantity of digital materials; 33 suspects were taken into custody.

Of the suspects referred to court, 26 were remanded in custody by the on-duty court while 7 were released under judicial control conditions.

Is this the first time the network has reached this scale? In a similar betting operation conducted in Mersin in 2024, transaction volume remained at 340 million TL and the number of those arrested ended at 9. This time, both the volume and the number of arrests exceeded four times those figures.