Gambling purge nets 700,000

From The Guardian Unlimited:

Police carrying out a nationwide crackdown on gambling in China have detained or arrested more than 702,000 people, including 1,617 government officials, since the beginning of the year, the government has said.

The report by the official Xinhua news agency was the latest in a series of updates on the crackdown. Communist leaders say that gambling is aiding official corruption and organised crime.