Eradicating the 'Nests' of Online Gambling
The threat of online gambling (judol) can no longer be tolerated. It is not merely operating on a small scale; in Indonesia, judol has developed into a dangerous part of international syndicates.
Police authorities have reportedly just succeeded in arresting hundreds of international judol bookmakers operating in Jakarta. A total of 321 employees of the international judol syndicate have been arrested. Of the hundreds of judol employees based at Hayam Wuruk Tower, only one is an Indonesian citizen; the rest are foreigners, mostly from Vietnam. The others are from China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia.
The Komdigi efforts, which block judol sites every day, apparently do not deter judol bookmakers. Instead of closing their operations, judol bookmakers seem to be challenging the government. They open judol headquarters not far from the State Palace and the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) office. Indonesia has become a destination country for judol bookmakers to establish their bases. They apparently see loopholes in the ease of investing in judol in Indonesia.
The spread of judol in Indonesia is no longer just an ordinary legal violation but has developed into a social pathology that damages the nation’s economic structure and mentality. So far, whenever one judol site is blocked, a thousand new sites with the same function emerge at the same moment. Data from 2026 shows how dire the situation is, with judol money circulation potentially exceeding Rp1,000 trillion per year.
Not a few people’s savings have been drained by judol. In response to the highly destructive impact of judol, eradication efforts can no longer be half-hearted. A holistic, consistent, serious, systematic strategy involving all elements of the nation is needed to eradicate the spread of judol.
Impacts of Judol
Judol victims now transcend class and age boundaries. Judol victims are not only adults who are indeed addicted to gambling. Children, women, students, university students, and almost anyone can become judol victims. Data from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) shows that in 2025 alone, judol fund circulation reached Rp286.84 trillion from 422.1 million transactions. Although the fund circulation did decrease by 20 percent compared to 2024, which was Rp359.81 trillion, the millions of transactions and hundreds of trillions of rupiah lost to judol in 2025 remain no small figure.
In 2026, for the first quarter alone, PPATK recorded judol deposit values reaching Rp10.6 trillion. In the first three months, judol fund circulation reached Rp40.3 trillion. This is evidence of how extraordinarily judol has developed. Imagine the devastating impact of judol. In various regions, it is not once or twice that reports emerge of community members whose families are destroyed because of judol.
We certainly still remember the case of a husband-and-wife family, both police officers, who were ruined by judol. The wife, already annoyed by her husband’s judol addiction, then burned her husband to death. The wife, who had lost control due to her husband’s behaviour, ended up in prison to account for her actions. This is one of the tragic stories of a family involved in judol.
The main reason why judol has massively spread to various groups in society is due to the ease of access. With just a gadget, anyone can access judol. In this digital era, judol has become a favourite of cybercrime that is truly dangerous. Police reports have often shown how millions of Indonesians from various backgrounds—housewives, students, to officials—have become entangled in this vortex. The dangers posed by the spread of judol are very real: from damaged families, mounting debts, to criminal acts such as embezzlement and suicide.
Discussing the consequences of judol is not just about lost money, but also about lost productivity. When someone is trapped in the delusion of quick wins, they lose motivation to work hard. The rampant judol has robbed society of its future by selling false dreams, while bookmakers profit from collective losses. This is the dangerous impact of the increasingly widespread development of judol. Allowing judol to continue unchecked could plunge the nation into decline.
Eradicating Judol
Currently, Indonesia has become a target market for judol bookmakers. As the country aggressively tries to cut off judol market access, the bookmakers see other opportunity gaps. The exposure of the gambling den in Hayam Wuruk proves a new fact that Indonesia is no longer just a market but is beginning to be used as a ‘nest’ for online gambling business.
To eradicate judol, the state is clearly demanded to take a proactive stance. Judol must be eradicated to its roots. Judol eradication can no longer be done with conventional methods. Judol has already developed into an extraordinary crime. Therefore, there should be no more stories of weak state oversight. The war against judol must be relentlessly pursued. We must not be negligent for even a second or take judol lightly. All children of the nation must work together; the Ministry of Komdigi and the police cannot be left to work alone.
Currently, the government has reportedly formed a Task Force (Satgas) for Eradicating Online Gambling involving cross-ministry/institutions. This task force marks a shift from a reactive to a proactive approach. So far, the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemkomdigi) has aggressively taken down millions of online gambling contents using AI-based web crawlers and p