275 Foreign Nationals Named Suspects in Jakarta Gambling Raid

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian National Police have named 275 foreign nationals as suspects in an international online gambling syndicate following a raid on an office building at Hayam Wuruk Plaza Tower, Jakarta, that allegedly operated 75 gambling websites.

During the Friday night operation, police detained 321 foreign nationals suspected of running the online gambling network. National Police General Crimes Director Wira Satya Triputra said authorities are continuing to investigate those who have not yet been formally charged.

“The rest are still being investigated because we need to determine the specific roles of those who remain under examination,” Wira told reporters at the scene on Saturday, May 9, 2026.

According to Wira, the syndicate operated from the 20th and 21st floors of the building and had reportedly been active for the past two months. Police are also questioning the building’s owners and management while tracing the identities of the tenants involved.

The suspects came from several Asian countries, with the majority consisting of 228 nationals from Vietnam. Police also detained 57 citizens of China, 11 from Laos, 13 from Myanmar, three from Malaysia, five from Thailand, and three from Cambodia.

Authorities said the suspects are believed to have lived in apartments and hotels near the office building. They allegedly worked as operators, telemarketers, financial staff, and coordinators for the gambling operation.

Police confiscated a range of evidence, including safes, passports, mobile phones, laptops, computers, and cash in multiple currencies totaling around Rp1.9 billion (US$116,000). Investigators said much of the equipment used to run the gambling websites had been purchased in Indonesia.

Authorities are also tracing the syndicate’s communication network through IP addresses. The servers hosting the gambling websites are suspected to be located overseas.

Wira said preliminary findings and marketing records indicate that the online gambling sites primarily targeted foreign nationals rather than Indonesian users.

The suspects have been charged under multiple provisions of Indonesia’s Criminal Code and related criminal law regulations concerning online gambling activities.