A Chinese official accused of gambling away 3.5 million yuan (US$420,000; €350,000) in public money has been caught after three months on the run, news reports said Monday.

The case comes amid efforts to rein in the number of Chinese headed to casinos in North Korea, Myanmar and other neighboring countries.

Cai Haowen, a former transportation official of a region on the North Korean border, was caught Sunday aboard a train in China's northeast by police acting on a tip, the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily and other state media reported.

Cai was accused of stealing 2.76 million yuan (US$330,000; €270,000) from his department and borrowing the rest from companies under his supervision last year, the reports said.

They said he fled in November after losing the money during 27 trips to casinos in a "neighboring country" _ possibly North Korea.

China's government has appealed to North Korea and other neighboring countries to close dozens of casinos that were set up to attract Chinese gamblers.

The official --inhua News Agency said last month that some 600 billion yuan (US$70 billion; €60 billion) a year flows out of China through gambling.