Amid a nationwide crackdown on illegal gambling, Beijing police have recently broken an Internet gambling case, seizing more than 235 million yuan (US$28.4 million) and three suspects, Wednesday's Beijing News reported.

Another suspect, surnamed Huang, believed to be a leader of the gambling ring, remains at large.

The police said they received a report on Dec. 23, 2004 that an IP address from a complex in Chaoyang District, Beijing, had been frequently logging onto an overseas gambling website.

The police raided the an apartment in that complex on Jan. 7, 2005 and arrested a suspect named Yang Yi on the spot and another suspect named Jiang Dong the next day.

Police said the IP address received 96,274 stakes ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 yuan simply in Dec. 2004. The total funds involved reached 235 million yuan.

A batch of gambling diaries written by Huang, weighing more than ten kilograms and detailing Huang's daily gambling activities, was also found at the apartment.

The police also seized two laptops and one router.

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2005)