JAKARTA, May 9 (Reuters) – Indonesian police on Saturday arrested 321 foreign nationals, mainly from Vietnam, for alleged involvement in banned online gambling, officials said.
• The suspects were arrested in an office building in Central Jakarta as authorities pursue crackdowns on online gambling — which is banned in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation — and on international criminal syndicates.
• Those arrested included 228 people from Vietnam, 57 from China, 13 from Myanmar, 11 from Laos, five from Thailand and three from Cambodia, Wira Satya Triputra, director of the Indonesian police force’s crime investigation unit, said at a press conference.
• The suspects have been running the online gambling operation for two months, Wira said.
• Of the 321 people arrested, he said 275 were accused of violating Indonesia’s criminal code on gambling, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of nine years.
• Wira said most of the foreigners were aware that they came to Indonesia to run online gambling operations, adding that they largely targeted foreign customers.
• An official with Interpol Indonesia, Untung Widyatmoko, told the press conference that there is a trend of online gambling operations moving from Cambodian cities to Indonesia.
• It was the second round-up of a large group of foreigners in two days. On Friday, Indonesia’s immigration authorities arrested 210 foreign nationals allegedly involved in online investment scams on Batam island, around 20 km from Singapore.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
