Despite the availability of provincially authorized sports lottery parlay games and offshore betting and gaming (iGaming) operations licensed and regulated in other jurisdictions, unlicensed and unregulated sports books run by organized crime continue to flourish in Canada. Recent law enforcement efforts to combat such sports books have resulted in arrests, but legislation aimed in part at depriving sports books run by organized crime of markets by providing safe, lawful alternatives appears to have stalled.
PlatinumSB Arrests -
On February 3, 2013, police raided an invitation-only 2,300-person Super Bowl party north of Toronto, Ontario. Six men were charged with offences relating to their alleged roles in betting taking place at the party and in connection with an alleged illegal iGaming operation in relation to the iGaming website PlatinumSB. These arrests were part of Project Amethyst, a partnership between three levels of Canadian police formed for the purpose of investigating the criminal activities of a particular organized crime group.
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