With the eyes of soccer fans focused on the World Cup in Qatar, police in Thailand have broken up one of the country's largest gambling syndicates that saw betting on the international football matches.

Thai police said on Tuesday that they raided 13 locations in Bangkok and the northern province of Chiang Rai. They arrested 5 people including the website operator on charges of illegal gambling and money laundering.

The police say there has been more than 85 million dollars-worth of transactions on the site during five years of operation.

The group allegedly invested their profits in luxury watches, handbags and cars to hide the money from police.

World Cup betting has long been a source of concern in Thailand where gambling remains illegal except for the national lottery and horse racing.

More than 9,000 gamblers have been arrested since the football tournament in Qatar kicked off in November. An expert estimates people in Thailand will spend some one-and-a-half billion dollars on gambling during the event.