Rio Olympics 2016: Crackdown on illegal sale of tickets

Police in Rio are cracking down on illegal ticket sales.

The director of a British corporate hospitality company and his Brazilian translator have been arrested and could face 2 years in jail.

Irishman Kevin James Mallon worked for THG Sports. He was caught red handed trying to sell tickets for the Olympics opening ceremony at highly inflated prices near the Olympic park.

“Those tickets were being sold through the company’s website, so we believe all those tickets were already sold. In the moment of searching and seizure – that Mr Aluisio (the police investigator) can explain to you – the tickets were in closed envelopes ready for (sending) to the buyer,” said Ricardo Barbosa, an investigative police.

Police also found more than 1000 tickets in his hotel room…some of which were fake.

According to local media, this sale would have generated a profit of more than 2 million euros.

In a bid to cut down on touting, local police have arrested some 40 ticket touts on the streets outside the Olympic Park in the recent days.