Suspicious Traces of Foreign Nationals at the Hayam Wuruk Online Gambling Headquarters in West Jakarta

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Before the headquarters of an international online gambling network at Hayam Wuruk Plaza Tower in West Jakarta was raided, local residents had already become suspicious of the foreign nationals frequently seen there. From their facial structures that tended to be similar, their clothing, interactions, to their habits of buying food. The residents’ suspicions were finally revealed when the police arrested 320 foreign nationals and one Indonesian national operating 57 online gambling websites there. Local resident Ananda (not her real name) claimed to have often seen people with similar facial structures around the office building in recent months. They also always used a language that sounded quite foreign to her ears. Especially when shopping at the minimarket in the alley across from the building’s main entrance. This prompted Ananda’s suspicion. Her suspicion was then confirmed on Friday night (8/5/2026), when police raided the online gambling headquarters at Hayam Wuruk Plaza Tower. “Usually, there are many foreigners like from Vietnam here. I’ve been suspicious from the start. But I only just found out they were running an online gambling operation here. And they can’t speak English,” said Ananda when met by Kompas.com near the office building on Monday (11/5/2026). According to Sulaiman, they rarely communicated and more often spoke in a quite foreign language. The characteristics of the foreign nationals, similar in appearance and the language used, then made him suspicious. “The language is strange (foreign). I’ve already noted it, but it wasn’t visible because (their work) is online. I was just suspicious,” he said. Another resident, Indra (not his real name), a parking attendant at a fast-food restaurant not far from the location, also stated that he had to interact with foreign nationals several times using a translation app. At that time, Indra, who was on duty at the parking area, was approached by an ojek online driver carrying a large order of food.