Indonesian police have struck a significant blow against illegal online gambling with the arrest of 22 individuals connected to a sophisticated syndicate operating across multiple countries.
The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Directorate conducted a series of coordinated raids on June 13 in the cities of Tangerang, Bogor, and Bekasi, successfully dismantling a criminal enterprise that ran the illegal gambling websites Akasia899 and Tanjung899.
The operation revealed an extensive network that utilized servers based in China and Cambodia to target Indonesian citizens.
The financial scale of the syndicate was substantial. Police officials stated that over a period of just ten months, the main suspects—including a financial administrator and three individuals managing marketing and server operations—had each accumulated personal earnings ranging from Rp 15 billion to Rp 20 billion.
The group employed a number of staff as operators and customer service agents, paying them monthly wages between Rp 7 million and Rp 10 million to facilitate the illegal activities. This hierarchical structure allowed the ringleaders to manage a large-scale operation while reaping immense profits from their illicit venture.
The syndicate’s primary method for attracting victims involved an aggressive and technologically savvy marketing campaign. Authorities reported that the group misused thousands of Indonesian SIM cards, generating hundreds of new WhatsApp accounts on a daily basis.
These accounts were then used to broadcast a high volume of gambling advertisements to a wide audience, promising easy winnings to entice individuals into depositing funds into their platforms.
To conceal their profits, the suspects engaged in money laundering by converting the proceeds from their gambling operations into cryptocurrency, disguising the transactions as legitimate payments for goods.
During the raids, the Indonesian police seized a vast amount of evidence, including 354 mobile phones, 23 computers, a vehicle, 18 ATM cards, a modem, and a staggering 2,648 SIM cards.
The 22 suspects now face severe legal consequences and are being charged under multiple criminal laws, including those pertaining to information and electronic transactions, as well as money laundering. The potential penalties reflect the seriousness of the crimes, with fines of up to Rp 1 billion and lengthy prison sentences ranging from six to fifteen years.
