NINE men and four women were arrested during an island-wide operationconducted against an illegal 4-D syndicate on Wednesday.

During the 10-hour operation, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and Police Intelligence Department raided several locations at Jurong, Kim Keat, Beach Road, Tampines and Choa Chu Kang, including the suspected collection centres.

Along with the arrests of the suspects, aged between 22 and 66 years, several items including computers, a laptop, modems, handphones, fax machines, documents, bank books and cash of more than $3,000 were seized.

Initial investigations showed that the members of the illegal 4-D syndicate would collect bets from punters, after which they would consolidate the bets and transmit them electronically to the collection centre.

Twelve of the suspects will be charged in Court on Friday rying on of a public lot under the Common Gaming Houses Act.

The remaining person will be released on bail pending further investigations.

Those found guilty of assisting in the carrying on of a public lottery face a minimum fine of S$20,000 and maximum fine of S$200,000 and imprisonment for up to five years.

Persons found guilty of buying an illegal lottery ticket face a fine of up to S$5,000 or imprisonment for up to six months or both.