DHAKA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police has busted an international online gambling operation that was generating millions of taka, the Bangladeshi currency, in daily revenue.

Additional Inspector General of Police Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, who heads the CID, told journalists at a press briefing in Dhaka on Sunday that the majority of the earnings were laundered overseas using informal channels and cryptocurrency.

Eight members of the syndicate, which had operated domestic and international gambling sites for the past six months, were arrested in recent raids in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country, he said.

Ahmed said the gamblers used informal channels and crypto wallets to make foreign transactions.

Over the past six months, he said the syndicate processed daily transactions worth around 20 million taka (about 163,934 U.S. dollars) using a variety of local and international gambling platforms.

He added that they seized a large cache of digital devices and other evidence from the suspects' possession during the operations.

According to the official, the suspects have confessed to their direct involvement in international online gambling and money laundering activities during preliminary interrogation.

Ahmed said the crime ring functioned through a well-organized, multi-tiered system spanning Bangladesh and other countries. ■