Police Bust Large Illegal Gambling Ring in Indonesia; 22 Arrested
A major police operation targeting illegal gambling in Indonesia led to the arrest of 22 suspects across multiple cities, including Bekasi, Bogor, Denpasar, and Tangerang.
The crackdown, carried out by the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency, uncovered a sophisticated gambling network tied not only locally but also to China and Cambodia. This operation reportedly generated hundreds of billions of Indonesian Rupiah in revenue despite running for less than a year.
Key Details:
-
22 suspects arrested , holding roles such as financial administrators, server managers, and operators.
-
Seizures included 354 mobile phones , dozens of computers, 18 ATM cards , over 2,600 SIM cards , modems, and a vehicle.
-
The suspects used WhatsApp , creating up to 500 accounts daily to send thousands of promotional messages for two illegal gambling websites.
-
Money laundering methods involved bank deposits under third-party names and conversions to cryptocurrency.
-
Charges include violations under the Electronic Information and Transactions Act (up to 6 years imprisonment and fines up to Rp1 billion / $61,300) and the Law on Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering (imprisonment between 5 and 15 years and fines up to Rp1 billion).
