Gambling bosses facing hard times

Gambling bosses facing hard times

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Arif (not his real name), a prominent numbers racket (togel)
operator in Surabaya, shows a scar on his head to The Jakarta
Post.

"When I was riding a motorcycle last year, suddenly somebody
hit me on the back of the head with a lump of wood. I fell off
the bike as a result," said Arif.

Arif then received treatment at the police's Bhayangkara
Hospital in the city. He was lucky that he did not suffer from
brain concussion. His doctor, however, told him to rest up for a
while.

It was not the first such incident that had befallen Arif.
Last year, he was stabbed in the stomach by a youth and had to be
brought to the hospital. He felt lucky to be alive.

"Those are the risks you run as a gambling operator," Arif
explained matter-of-factly.

Arif said that it was common to resolve problems with violence
in gambling circles.

"The life of a gambling operator is life on the wild side.
Whoever is the strongest will take over the area," said Arif, 28.

He said that he had been running a numbers racket since 1996
when he was still at senior high school. His father never
prohibited him from doing so. In fact, his father, who used to be
a thug at the Joyoboyo bus terminal in the city, ran the racket
along with him.

According to Arif, he and his father became involved in the
gambling business due to economic necessity. Before doing so, his
father only earned some Rp 800,000 (US$83.3) a month. After they
became involved in gambling, they were able to earn a net income
of some Rp 10 million a month between them.

"With the money I got from gambling, I was able to finish my
university degree," said Arif, who said he had decided to stay in
the gambling business as he was unable to find a decent job.

In order to be able to successfully run his business, he has
to maintain good contacts with the police. He acknowledged that
he handed over Rp 3 million a month to local police officers.

Arif employs dozens of thugs and runners to provide protection
and distribute the togel tickets. His subordinates are paid
between Rp 400,000 and Rp 500,000 a month.

However, his racket has been under pressure since last week
after National Police chief Gen. Sutanto declared war on
gambling. Following the declaration, the police nationwide,
including the Surabaya Police, launched a crackdown on the vice.

In order to avoid being arrested by the police, Arif and his
father have closed up shop for the time being. He plans to start
up the racket again after the crackdown runs out of steam.

In the meantime, Arif's father is working as a transportation
tout at Joyoboyo terminal. Helping round up passengers in the
terminal, he hopes to earn between Rp 700,000 and Rp 800,000 a
month.

"I am concerned about the fate of the men who work for me.
They are now jobless and I've heard that some of them have begun
extorting money from people on the street," said Arif.

Separately, Surabaya Police chief Sr. Comr. Sutarman denied
that his men received bribes from gambling operators such as
Arif. "I've never found any of my men taking bribes. If you know
about any police personnel taking bribes, please feel free to
report them to us," said Sutarman in time-honored fashion.