JAKARTA – Cross-border online gambling has become a serious concern in the Southeast Asia region, including Indonesia.
To overcome this, ASEAN countries agreed to strengthen cross-country cooperation in combating this transnational crime.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs (Menko Polkam), Budi Gunawan, explained that the Online Gambling Eradication Desk has set three priority steps, one of which is strengthening cross-country legal coordination.
“The joint desk will also continue to enforce the law and trace the flow of online gambling funds. We will try to coordinate cross-country laws by targeting money laundering activities to facilitate prosecution,” said Budi Gunawan.
In addition, the Head of the Criminal Investigation Agency (Kabareskrim) of the Indonesian National Police, Commissioner General Wahyu Widada, stated that asset tracing steps will be the main focus in eradicating online gambling.
Recently, the Cyber Crime Directorate of the National Police Criminal Investigation Unit arrested one of the fugitives in an international online gambling case.
“The online gambling perpetrator we were chasing was successfully arrested in the Philippines by local authorities. Today he will be handed over to Indonesia,” said Wahyu Widada.
The fugitive in question is HS alias A, while A is the manager of the W88 online gambling site.
The site operates in the Philippines with a turnover of IDR 1 trillion in 2024.
Wahyu revealed that HS’s role in the W88 online gambling site network is to provide deposit accounts and withdrawal accounts for players.
To strengthen eradication, the Head of the International Relations Division (Kadiv Hubinter) of the Indonesian National Police, Inspector General Krishna Murti, revealed that the Indonesian National Police has established strategic cooperation with Interpol.
“The National Police has established strategic cooperation with Interpol through the Senior Officer Meeting Transnational Crime technical meeting which took place in Laos,” explained Krishna Murti.
He added that the discussion of this cooperation includes the exchange of information to identify, track and prosecute online gambling perpetrators operating in Indonesia.
Krishna also said that the Police’s cooperation was not only limited to Interpol, but also involved the police of neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.
“We are working with neighboring countries to take firm action against this international online gambling network,” he stressed.
With cross-country collaboration, the government hopes to suppress online gambling activities, while creating a safer ASEAN region free from the threat of cross-country crime. [*]
