Mystery Sponsor Behind Bringing Hundreds of Foreign Nationals to Hayam Wuruk Online Gambling Headquarters

Bareskrim Polri is still hunting for the sponsor and the party leasing the office suspected of being key actors behind the operations of an international online gambling (judol) network in the Hayam Wuruk area, Taman Sari, West Jakarta. The uncovering of the judol headquarters involving hundreds of foreign nationals (WNA) is now expanding to tracing fund flows and alleged involvement of the main controllers of the cross-country network. Director of General Criminal Acts (Dirtipidum) of Bareskrim Polri, Brigadier General Pol Wira Satya Triputra, stated that investigators are delving into who the parties are that brought hundreds of WNA to Indonesia while providing operational facilities for the judol network. The investigation is being conducted involving several related agencies, including the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), to trace the circulation of money suspected to be related to the online gambling activities. According to Wira, the police are still examining the structure of that international network, including the possibility of main controllers located outside Indonesia. “This is still under further investigation. Please give us time, as we are also coordinating with other related stakeholders,” he said. Of that number, 320 people are foreign nationals and one other is an Indonesian citizen (WNI). Hundreds of those people are suspected to have various roles in running the online gambling operations in a structured manner. “There are various roles. Some are in telemarketing, customer service, there are also those in admin or collections,” Wira said. In addition, the police found at least 75 domains and websites suspected of being used as online gambling facilities. The network is suspected of continuously changing domains and utilising a structured system to avoid blocking. Bareskrim suspects that the syndicate has a cross-country network with an operational pattern that has been running for quite some time. Bareskrim Polri emphasises that the uncovering of the online gambling headquarters in Hayam Wuruk is part of Polri’s commitment to eradicating gambling practices in Indonesia, both online and conventional.