A leading politician has praised the Indonesian police after officers closed down a major online gambling network and arrested 321 foreign nationals.
Police raided a commercial property in the Chinatown district of the capital, Jakarta, according to the official website of the Gerindra Party.
Indonesian National Police (Polri) officials said the property served as a business center for the network. Its operators reportedly operated around 70 online casino sites, primarily targeting customers outside Indonesia.
Indonesia is currently cracking down on online casino operators, promoters, and punters. Courts in the country have the power to jail operators for up to 10 years.
Gerindra lawmaker Bob Hasan, a member of one of the Indonesian House of Representatives’ biggest policy-making commissions, praised Polri’s efforts.
He said the raids proved the government was serious about dismantling crime networks and fighting a rise in illegal online gambling.
“[The commission] expresses its utmost appreciation to our law enforcement officers,” said Hasan. “The police responded quickly and took swift action against international online gambling operators.”
Indonesian Police Arrest 321: What We Know
Polri said 228 of the arrestees were Vietnamese. Another 57 were Chinese citizens. The remainder are citizens of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Malaysia, confirmed Wira Satya Triputra, Polri’s head of general crime investigations.
Hasan said the raid was proof that organized foreign crime groups are active in Indonesia, where they run online gambling networks.
“This is proof that the online gambling network involves external parties. It must be eradicated at the root. We must not stop at just one case,” the lawmaker said.
Hasan said it was possible that the arrestees were just the tip of a larger iceberg. He urged police to scour “various regions” in a search for more members of the network.
Police have confirmed that their investigation is ongoing and added that they may expand it further.
“Online gambling is already a very disturbing phenomenon,” Hasan concluded. “The government must take decisive action to disrupt all gambling networks and protect the public.”
A Highly Organized Gang
Polri officials say they took the network down while it was still in its infancy. The police chief said the operation had gone online about two months before Polri conducted its raids.
Wira said the network was highly organized. The multinational workforce was assigned to a range of roles, he added.
Some worked in customer service, while others focused on marketing and financial tasks.
Earlier this month, Polri officials warned of an incoming “explosion” in illegal sports betting. Officials expect more illegal sports betting sites to target soccer-keen citizens ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
CasinoBeats has seen recent evidence that scores of illegal betting platforms continue to advertise their sites to Indonesian residents on popular internet platforms.
