Turkish police use AI system to jail 121 suspects in illegal gambling probe
The AI system analyzed slang and emojis in Telegram messages to identify betting groups across 39 provinces.
Turkish authorities have jailed 121 suspects following a nationwide crackdown on illegal gambling that utilized an artificial intelligence system. Police conducted raids across 39 provinces this week, initially targeting 194 individuals. Prosecutors announced on Saturday that 169 people were detained, with nearly three quarters of them ordered to remain in custody while awaiting trial. The remaining detainees were released, with 45 placed under judicial supervision.
The investigation relied on an AI-powered program called AVCI, which translates to "hunter" in Turkish. Authorities said the system helped identify suspected betting groups that were operating through the Telegram messaging app. According to a July report in the Türkiye Gazetesi newspaper, "the software uses natural language processing to interpret coded language, slang, and emoji combinations used by suspected drug dealers and illegal betting operators." The open source intelligence tool was developed by Istanbul police specifically to investigate criminal activity on digital platforms.
Beyond interpreting slang, the AVCI system can analyze photos and videos, link accounts using different aliases, and map the connections between members of a suspected criminal network. It also preserves a copy of communications from closed messaging groups in their original form, allowing investigators to keep records even after users delete the messages. A report on Sunday in the Sabah newspaper stated the software identified 306,000 messages from 47 groups that could be used as evidence. That report also alleged a 21-year-old software developer was a ringleader in the operation, using the name of British lottery winner Michael Carroll as a Telegram alias. This is not the first time AVCI has been deployed in a gambling case. Police revealed in May that they used the system to examine 600,000 messages during an investigation spanning 35 provinces, which resulted in 108 arrests. Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board, known as MASAK, examined financial transactions believed to be linked to the illegal betting activity. During the searches of homes and businesses, officers confiscated electronic devices including phones, laptops and SIM cards. The country bans unauthorized online betting, and law enforcement has been focusing more on operations that use messaging applications to advertise gambling and process payments.