Indonesia Arrests 321 People Over Illegal Online Gambling

A large-scale operation against illegal gambling in Indonesia has yielded strong results, with 321 people arrested, police reported on Saturday, May 9.

The arrests targeted a criminal group that operated online casinos and sports betting websites, with the country having a zero-tolerance policy on illegal gambling. 

Last September, the country also removed millions of digital items linked to illegal gambling promotions from the Internet, intensifying its efforts to prevent the proliferation of unauthorized online gambling.

Indonesia Cracks Down Hard on Illegal Gambling Ring

Among the people arrested were 228 Vietnamese nationals along with 57 Chinese nationals, including suspects from Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos. 

Brigadier General Wira Satya Triputra at the Indonesian National Police outlined the operation, saying that hundreds of foreigners have been arrested in connection with the operation. 

With Indonesia having a population of 288 million people and virtually zero legal options, such large-scale criminal rings have become the norm. Indonesia is reluctant to legalize gambling, drawing from its religious tradition, which sees such games of chance as sinful. 

In the meantime, the newly busted criminal ring was behind 75 online gambling websites that promoted various activities, with the websites not necessarily focused on the Indonesian gambling market.

Rather, the gambling ring was using the country as a hub for its operations, targeting overseas geolocations, based on the marketing materials seized by police officials.

In late 2025, the country also went after bank accounts, closing down some 27,000 accounts that were linked to gambling activities. Indonesia vowed to follow up on this action and shut down further payment networks and accounts used for illegal gambling.