Police have broken up a major illegal football gambling ring and arrested six suspects in Penang, a senior police official said today.

Police made the arrests yesterday following a surprise raid at a location where the six were taking bets on international matches.

"Investigations showed they were taking bets totalling up to RM2 million a game, with winnings paid directly into the account of punters," Penang criminal investigation department chief Syed Ismail Syed Azizan told state Bernama news agency.

Computers confiscated

Police confiscated computers as well as phones, tape recorders, television sets and schedules for overseas football matches from the scene.

Syed Ismail said the gambling ring used some 150 agents nationwide to take bets including some on Borneo island.

The six men, aged between 30 and 45, are being investigated under the 1958 Gaming Act under which they face as much as five years in jail or a fine not exceeding 200,000 ringgit.

Football gambling is banned in mainly Muslim Malaysia, but betting on English Premier League matches is rife, especially with the increase of live broadcasts of European games in recent years.