Government Successfully Dismantles International Syndicate and Local Crimes Related to Online Gambling
Jakarta – The Indonesian Government, through the Indonesian National Police (Polri), continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to combating online gambling crimes, which now operate not only at the local level but are also linked to international networks. In its latest decisive move, the Directorate of General Crimes (Dittipidum) of the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) successfully uncovered a major syndicate operating across borders, involving servers based in China and Cambodia.
A coordinated operation carried out on June 13, 2025, in several major cities such as Bogor, Bekasi, Tangerang, and Denpasar, led to the arrest of 22 suspects who acted as site administrators and network operators of online gambling. They operated two main websites, namely tanjung899.com and akasia899.com, which had been used to lure victims through intensive promotions via instant messaging applications.
“The perpetrators were found to be running gambling activities supported by overseas servers, in collaboration with agents in China and Cambodia,” said Brigadier General Djuhandhani Rahardjo Puro, Director of General Crimes at Bareskrim Polri.
This investigation also revealed the perpetrators’ sophisticated operational methods, such as the use of thousands of illegal SIM cards to create hundreds of WhatsApp accounts daily, which were then used to spread gambling promotion messages. In addition, customer data were bought and sold via Telegram and WhatsApp groups controlled from abroad. The proceeds of these crimes were laundered through nominee bank accounts and cryptocurrency transactions before being cashed out via payment gateways into local rupiah accounts.
On the other hand, efforts to address the local impact of online gambling continue. For example, the Banda Aceh Police recently arrested a woman identified as ZU (33), who broke into a kindergarten in Banda Aceh and stole Rp20 million. According to the suspect’s confession, the stolen funds were spent on online gambling with three of her associates.
“The money was used for online gambling, daily living expenses, and was shared in varying amounts,” explained Chief of Criminal Investigation Unit of Banda Aceh Police, Commissioner Fadillah Aditya Pratama.
Moreover, the police also uncovered the involvement of other perpetrators in cases of electronic theft from local residents’ homes. The stolen goods were again used to fund online gambling, confirming that online gambling has driven the emergence of secondary criminal acts.
This success deserves recognition as part of the government’s commitment to enforcing the law and protecting the public from the destructive impacts of online gambling. The structured and comprehensive crackdown—targeting both major networks and grassroots perpetrators—proves that the state is firmly present in eradicating the increasingly troubling cybercrime.
