A group of punters were caught when they were taking illegal bets on a gambling website based abroad, police said.

Wuhan police raided a residence north of the city and arrested eleven people including one suspected to be the ring leader, who has accepted over 5 million yuan (about US$610,000) in bets since January this year.

Police said they caught Yang, the suspected organizer, receiving phone calls from gamblers for joining in the betting and inputting the stake on the net in his home on March 7 while a Bundesliga match was live broadcasted.

Police said they were tipped off in January that some people were involved in the internet betting before they broke up the ring.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2004)