Police in Australia say they have charged eight people with involvement in an illegal Asian World Cup betting ring.

New South Wales police said Wednesday they took six men from Hong Kong and two Malaysian women into custody after raiding a hotel in central Sydney. Officers from a special South East Asian Crime Squad seized computers, networking equipment, calculators, mobile phones, documents and cash.

In a statement, police say the eight were part of an Asian betting operation and that they flew into Australia three days ago. They were charged with unlicensed bookmaking under Australia's Unlawful Gaming Act and are due to appear in court on July 4.

The accused have been turned over to immigration department officials pending their court appearance.

Some information for this report provided by AFP.