Police have arrested 200 suspects for suspected loansharking activities after an islandwide anti-loansharking operation that took place over 69 hours from Monday to Thursday.

The 140 men and 60 women were aged between 19 and 74. They were nabbed after officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and six land divisions conducted simultaneous raids at multiple locations in Singapore.

Of the 200 suspects, three will be charged in court on Friday under the Moneylenders Act. Investigations against the remaining suspects are ongoing. Separately, another 67 people will also be charged on Friday for their involvement in loansharking activities as runners and bank account holders. They were arrested in previous anti-loansharking operations conducted by the police.

Said CID Deputy Director and Assistant Commissioner of Police Florence Chua: "By surrendering bank accounts to loanshark syndicates, or by assisting them to transfer money or to carry out harassment acts, these perpetrators are actually helping the syndicates to evade police detection. Police will continue to clamp down hard on all these perpetrators and bring them to justice."