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In a Facebook livestream by the City of Lima government in Ohio, a multi-agency law-enforcement update announced that police arrested four people as part of what officials are calling “Operation New Beginnings,” targeting illegal drug and gambling activity.
The arrests are for allegedly “engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity connecting to the criminal network,” according to a press release. The individuals identified are Jai’Quavius Carter, Cantrell Island, De’Jorr Gibson, and Jordan Davis.
It was on Tuesday (January 13), when law enforcement vehicles and officers executed nine search warrants across multiple locations.

This happened early in the morning, just before 6AM, with Chief Cutris Hile, from the Lima Police Department, confirming that some people may have seen a large presence of law enforcement in the area.
This operation is described as a coordinated initiative, with the aim being to disrupt drug trafficking, illegal firearm activity, and illegal gambling within the community.
Lima Police embark on Operation New Beginnings
In the press release, the Lima Police Chief Curtis Hile said: “This operation was about stopping ongoing harm and restoring a sense of safety for residents who have been living with this activity day after day.
“By dismantling this network, we’ve removed individuals and operations that were actively undermining our community.”
The search warrants took place at the following addresses: 703 Faurot Avenue, 707 Faurot Avenue, 332 South Metcalf Street, 332 ½ South Metcalf Street, 403 South Metcalf Street, 1020 Faurot Avenue, 521 East Fourth Street, 1513 West Wayne Street and 1515 Harding Highway.
The efforts from the operation resulted in four arrests, closure of the Jackpot Zone, located at 1515 Harding Highway, following enforcement action related to alleged illegal gambling, the seizure of three vehicles and recovery of two semi-automatic handguns. Further financial and evidentiary seizures remain under review.
Multiple teams were involved in the efforts, including the Lima Police Department – Investigations Division & Uniformed Officers, Lima Police Department SWAT, Lima Police Department PACE Unit, Ohio State Highway Patrol – SWAT (Three Teams) & Uniformed Troopers, Ohio Casino Control Commission, and the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center (ONIC), Ohio Department of Public Safety.
The release states that additional arrests and enforcement actions remain possible, with public safety stressed as being a top priority.
Featured Image: Allen County Jail
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Ukraine’s National Commission for the State Regulation of Electronic Communications, Radio Frequency Spectrum, and Postal Services (NCEC) has restricted access to Polymarket.
The prediction market has come under fire nationwide as domestic service providers have now blocked access to the site on the NCEC’s instruction. As a result, the prediction market has been included in the block of unlicensed gambling sites, and some internet service providers have restricted access under NCEC’s instruction.
Ukrainian NCEC asks service providers to block Polymarket
PlayCity provided a list of unlicensed gambling websites under Ukrainian law, which the NCEC acted on in its resolution, and Polymarket was included in that list reported by media.
Consequently, Ukraine’s internet service providers (ISPs) have been ordered to restrict access to Polymarket’s domain along with many other unlicensed gambling sites.
This action involved hundreds of sites and gaming operators that had not met the regulator’s strict requirements to offer their services.
The ISPs have been instructed to “Notify providers of electronic communications services of their obligation to restrict access to the websites identified … that are used for the organization, conduct, or provision of access to gambling without the relevant licence.”
The NCEC issued a public statement about adopting Resolution No. 695 to implement a prior PlayCity decision calling for blocking unlicensed gambling sites.
Ukraine regulators believe Polymarket is acting without a license
Ukrainian regulators argue that Polymarket is treated as unlicensed gambling under law, despite it operating as a crypto-based prediction market.
Head of the NCEC, Liliya Malyon, signed the publication, stating this action was to “Ensure the organization of measures to conduct unscheduled inspections in the event of a substantiated appeal regarding non-fulfilment of the obligation to restrict access … to websites through which gambling games are organized, conducted or access to them is provided without the appropriate licence.”
Polymarket comes back to the US
Polymarket, alongside a host of other prediction markets have been under the microscope of gambling lawmakers across the globe.
This hasn’t dampened CEO Shane Copland’s strategy to “come home,” as he put it in a post that heralded a public beta of the prediction provider’s features.

Against all odds.
Polymarket’s U.S app is now being rolled out to those on the waitlist.
We’re launching with sports — followed by markets on everything. pic.twitter.com/WOoVMszrqc
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) December 3, 2025

The app was then offered to iOS users who had signed up for the beta, with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved market ready to do battle with the likes of Kalshi.
Featured image: Adobe Firefly
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A new report looking at sports betting trends, from Kambi, shows that a massive 48% represent bets traded by AI on the company’s network in 2025.
This marks a stark rise from the 4% in 2022, followed by 18% in 2023, and then 28% in 2024. The company says this comes after they have “leveraged AI for many years to deliver odds with unprecedented precision and speed of delivery through fully automated trading.”

𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢’𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞!
The sports betting industry is evolving faster than ever, and Kambi’s 2025 Report uncovers the key trends that shaped the market over the past year — and what they mean for 2026 and beyond.… pic.twitter.com/Eh2xyhhPBe
— Kambi (@KambiSports) January 13, 2026

According to the company, AI is improving their quality of pricing and enabling them to offer a more expansive offering. It was in 2022 when the sportsbook launched its AI trading, in time for the World Cup.
“AI has driven offering expansion across the whole of soccer, not just the top leagues. For example, since 2022, the number of bet offers have increased substantially on both the Dutch Eredivisie and English Championship.”
Basketball and American football tops Kambi’s most popular sports in 2025
Moving on from the AI, the sportsbook operator has provided an insight into its top markets by region. In the United States and Canada, basketball was the most popular, followed by American football, baseball, soccer, and then tennis.
As for the most popular events, the Super Bowl LIX topped the list in this area, with the AFC Championship Game being next, then NFC Championship Game, Buffalo Bills vs Baltimore Ravens, and then The Masters.
In Europe, the differences began to appear as the top sports were soccer, horse racing, ice hockey, tennis, and basketball. The operator has also shared the most popular events for first time bettors in this continent, with the Grand National topping the charts. The wide appeal of this event is further shown by the fact 40% of bettors made it their only racing bet of the year.
Arsenal vs Aston Villa was next on the list, with the others including Brest vs Real Madrid, Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, and the Festival Trophy Handicap Chase.
Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram
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