GEORGE TOWN, June 14 — Penang police scored a “goal” shortly before the World Cup in Brazil kicked off when they picked up a man suspected of involvement in an illegal betting syndicate cashing in on the month-long tournament.

State police chief Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Abdul Rahim Hanafi said the 48-year-old man was busy taking down bets at a coffeeshop in Paya Terubong when he was detained.

Abdul Rahim said the man was so engrossed with what he was doing that he was not even aware of police presence in the coffeeshop.

The man was arrested at 2.45am, some 75 minutes before the first match between Brazil and Croatia began.

“We seized from him RM1,990, a laptop, a calculator, a broadband dongle and a notebook containing betting transactions. We are investigating him under Section 6(3)(a) of the Betting Act 1953 for illegal bookmaking,” Abdul Rahim told reporters at the state police contingent headquarters yesterday.

If convicted, the suspect can be fined between RM20,000 and RM200,000, and jailed a maximum five years.

Abdul Rahim said police personnel had been told to check on betting activities in the various districts.

“They will be out for intelligence gathering. I hope the public can tip us off if they know of any betting rings. We are serious in taking action against those involved in organising illegal betting,” he said.

On Wednesday, federal police anti-vice, gambling and secret societies (D7) department chief deputy director SAC Roslee Chik said the police would be adopting new strategies to tackle illegal betting during the World Cup.

“The net is in place ... now we're waiting for the fish to be caught,” he said.

“We are are ready for this war.”

Roslee, however, was tight-lipped over the new strategy.

Police conducted 217 raids nationwide during the 2010 South Africa World Cup and arrested 143 people. The syndicates they busted received bets amounting to RM438 million. Roslee expects a higher betting value this time around.

Days prior to the World Cup, the Home Ministry said it would cooperate with Interpol and FIFA to monitor illegal gambling activities throughout the month. Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this was necessary as such activities involved bookies on a global scale.