The UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime has revealed in a new report how criminals launder billions through illegal gambling sites in Asia. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

The United Nations (UN) has voiced its concerns about the growing prevalence of criminal organizations in Southeast Asia running illegal online gambling sites using cryptocurrency payments.

The UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published the report titled “Transnational Organized Crime and the Convergence of Cyber-Enabled Fraud, Underground Banking, and Technological Innovation: A Shifting Threat Landscape,” which outlines how organized crime is growing faster now than at any other time in history.

In addition to their gambling operations, these syndicates make money through cybercrime and the production and smuggling of synthetic drugs. The UNODC estimated that the financial losses from cyber fraud in the region last year could be as high as US$37bn.

unregulated casinos are often vehicles for washing billions of dollars

The handling of such significant sums of money has led to extensive money laundering, and unregulated casinos are often vehicles for washing billions of dollars without any accountability.

The groups have the capability to always stay ahead of the authorities by “converging and exploiting vulnerabilities.”