Police have seized two luxury villas worth 57 million USD allegedly owned by a gambling syndicate in Thailand.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) raided the penthouses in Phuket island on November 22, following investigations into an 'extensive' gambling network in the country.

The UFA gambling network was allegedly owned by a man named 'Phuchit' reportedly living abroad for more than a year, while it was operated by a revenue manager identified only as 'Parkpoom'.

Police Major Suriya Singhakamol, Director-General of the DSI, said Parkpoom, who also goes by the alias 'Didi', had been arrested at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on November 4. He was described as a 'low-profile' individual who wore unassuming clothing, but handled eye-watering amounts of money.

The DSI said they looked into the backend of the numerous gambling websites operated by the UFA network and found a staggering daily turnover, mostly from foreign countries, of 72 billion THB (2 billion USD), with the highest single transaction reaching up to 2 billion THB (57 million USD). The majority of the funds were said to have been funneled back to the founder Phuchit.

Authorities said they were still tracing Phuchit, his sister Pornpansa, and 13 other associates in the scheme.

The DSI said they also found evidence of 'concealment of properties and assets for money laundering' based on financial records and electronic evidence. They said the profits earned from the online gambling websites were invested into various ventures in Bangkok and other provinces.

They added that many Thai suspects were involved, but they have fled overseas.

Police Major Suriya said: 'The raid of these two villas are the starting point for us to pursue the suspects. But we are still giving the people, who own various assets in name only, the opportunity to present themselves and provide information to the investigating officers. Otherwise, you will be guilty of money laundering.

''In addition to the documents of the two villas belonging to the accused, there were also other documents found of property that the accused group had bought. This will help us trace their trail and gather more evidence to implicate them.'