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Indonesian authorities arrested 321 foreign nationals during a raid on an alleged online gambling operation in West Jakarta, in what police described as one of the country’s largest actions against illegal digital betting networks.
The raid took place at a commercial building near Jakarta’s Chinatown district that investigators said served as a hub for more than 75 online gambling websites targeting players outside Indonesia.
“We arrested the suspects in the act while they were carrying out activities related to online gambling,” said Brigadier General Wira Satya Triputra, director of general crimes at the Indonesian National Police.
Those detained included 228 Vietnamese nationals and 57 Chinese nationals, while the remaining suspects came from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia.
“We found allegations of organized gambling activities involving foreign nationals from various countries,” Triputra said.
Authorities said the operation had been active for about two months and was organized with personnel assigned to customer service, telemarketing, and financial administration functions.
Devices, cash and passports seized
Investigators said the group allegedly operated at least 75 betting platforms aimed at overseas players. Marketing materials and digital evidence collected during the operation indicated that the websites primarily targeted users outside Indonesia.
Police seized cash in multiple currencies, safes, laptops, mobile phones, passports, and other equipment believed to have been used to manage the gambling network.
As of Saturday, 275 detainees had been formally named as suspects, while others remained under questioning.
Triputra said many suspects entered Indonesia using short-term visitor visas and later overstayed their permits while working for the operation. He added that “immigration violations were uncovered in addition to suspected gambling and money-laundering offenses.”
Authorities said those charged could face prison terms of up to nine years under Indonesia’s criminal and immigration laws, along with fines of up to 2 billion rupiah ($116,000).
Regional enforcement alters criminal activity
Indonesia has intensified enforcement efforts against illegal online gambling and cybercrime operations as authorities monitor the movement of syndicates across Southeast Asia.
Untung Widyatmoko, secretary of Indonesia’s Interpol bureau, said authorities anticipated that operators displaced from neighboring countries would seek new locations following enforcement actions elsewhere in the region.
Online gambling operators previously based in Cambodia and Myanmar have shown signs of relocating operations following crackdowns in those jurisdictions. Cambodia’s war with Thailand has caused some illicit businesses to seek a home base elsewhere.
“After enforcement measures in Cambodia, we started to see a shift toward Indonesia, and that was something we anticipated,” Widyatmoko said.
Online gambling remains illegal in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. The Asian Racing Federation estimates that illegal betting in Asia is a $425 billion annual industry.
Additional foreign crime cases reported
The Jakarta arrests follow several recent operations targeting foreign nationals allegedly linked to cybercrime and online fraud activities in Indonesia.
On Wednesday, authorities arrested about 210 foreign nationals, including 47 women from Vietnam, China, and Myanmar, during an immigration surveillance operation in Batam involving suspected online investment fraud.
Separately, police in Surabaya arrested 44 foreign nationals from Japan and China, accused of participating in a cross-border online and telephone scam operation. The arrests followed the detention of 13 Japanese nationals connected to the same case in Bogor in March.
Last month, authorities in Sukabumi, West Java, arrested 16 suspects from China, Malaysia, and Taiwan linked to an international scamming network. In Bali, 26 alleged online scammers, including individuals from the Philippines and Kenya, were deported.
The Jakarta investigation remains ongoing and could result in additional arrests tied to international criminal networks.