Indonesian police detain 39 Indian nationals in Bali for running a major online gambling ring, seizing millions in monthly revenue.
BALI: Indonesian police have arrested dozens of Indian nationals in a major crackdown on an online gambling operation based on the resort island.
Authorities raided two villas on Tuesday, detaining 39 Indian nationals and seizing phones, laptops and computers, according to Bali police chief Daniel Adityajaya.
Thirty-five of the suspects have been charged with gambling-related offences, while four others remain under questioning.
The suspects allegedly entered Indonesia on tourist visas and had been promoting and managing transactions for an online gambling site since late last year.
Police said the operation generated up to 8 billion rupiah, approximately $475,000, in revenue each month.
“A preliminary investigation shows that they opened and operated an office in Bali to take advantage of Bali’s status as an international tourist destination to avoid suspicion,” Adityajaya added.
The suspects face multiple charges, including organising gambling activities, which carries a sentence of up to nine years in prison under Indonesia’s new penal code.
Gambling is illegal across the Muslim-majority Indonesian archipelago, with laws targeting bookmakers, punters and online promoters.
Official data indicates the scale of the illicit industry, with turnover linked to online gambling exceeding 280 trillion rupiah last year.
An estimated 12 million Indonesians are engaged in online gambling activity.
