MEDAN; Police in North Sumatra and Central Java have launched separate operations against gambling activities in their jurisdictions over the past few weeks, arresting 15 people.
North Sumatra Police’s Cyber Crimes Investigation (Ressiber) Directorate raided an apartment unit in Medan city that was being used as the headquarters of an online gambling network linked to Cambodia.
Detectives detained five cashiers who processed betting deposits and winning withdrawals for online gamblers during the raid. The manager, identified as Wendi, remains at large.
Ressiber Directorate head Senior Commissioner Bayu Wicaksono said the five cashiers had previously worked in Cambodia. Wendi had asked them to return to Medan and establish their own online gambling business, called Depo Bos.
“We are still hunting for Wendi. This is part of a Cambodian online gambling network,” he told a press conference at North Sumatra Police headquarters on Wednesday afternoon.
“They came to Indonesia, to Medan, to operate an online gambling site.”
Bayu said the five cashiers had operated the online gambling business from unit 2220 of Grand Jati Junction Apartment since Oct 8.
“We raided their operation five days after they started operation on Oct 12,” he said.
The five cashiers, identified only as HH, MRL, RHS, SH and WAS, had recruited 30 players during the five days of operation.
“They received Rp10 million (US$553) per month, outside the bonus if they reached the target,” he said.
Officers also confiscated five mobile phones, three laptops and three ATM cards.
Bayu said the cashiers monitored deposit transactions and withdrawal requests through a panel on the website. The requests were then forwarded to administrators through an established system.
He added that the cashiers had connections with online gambling operators based in Cambodia.
North Sumatra Police chief spokesman Senior Commissioner Ferry Walintukan said detectives were continuing to investigate the Cambodian online gambling case to establish its operational structure and determine whether other parties were involved.
He said the cashiers had been charged under Article 426(1) of the 2023 Criminal Code, which carries a maximum prison sentence of nine years.
In March, detectives from the Ressiber Directorate raided another Cambodian online gambling syndicate that had been operating for two years at Royal Condominium in Medan. Officers detained 19 suspects, including eight women.
In a separate development, newly appointed Central Java Police chief Inspector-General Roy Hardi Siahaan raided several illegal gambling dens, known locally as togel, at multiple locations in Semarang city and the regencies of Demak and Grobogan.
Police detained 10 people who acted as coupon collectors, couriers and croupiers. They also traced financial transactions amounting to billions of rupiah.
“Togel refers to foreign lottery results, such as those in Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney. We raided the operations on Oct 9-10,” he said on Tuesday.
“We also confiscated thousands of togel coupons and other pieces of evidence. We also blocked several bank accounts related to these gambling activities.”
Officers raided a rental house on Jl Batan Miroto in Semarang city on the evening of Oct 9 and detained five people whose roles included selling and collecting coupons and acting as croupiers.
“Detectives confiscated 43,250 togel coupons and Rp19.65 million (US$1,085) in cash,” Roy said.
“We also froze five bank accounts believed to be related to the gambling operation, with a total balance of Rp1.94 billion.”
In Demak regency, officers raided another togel operation in the early hours of Oct 10 and detained three people who collected money from members of the public and togel retailers.
Detectives confiscated 8,416 togel coupons and froze bank accounts containing Rp519.99 million.
The total balance of the frozen bank accounts was Rp2.46 billion, excluding the cash confiscated and net profits from gambling activities.
Meanwhile, during operations against togel activities in Godong district, Grobogan regency, police arrested two people who acted as couriers, transporting togel coupons from the operation in Demak to retailers in Grobogan.
The couriers transported the coupons in a Daihatsu Gran Max minivan. Officers also seized two safe deposit boxes containing 421 stacks of togel coupons.
“The operations are part of our efforts to take action against gambling practices and trace all the parties involved behind the scenes,” Roy said.
“We will enforce the law indiscriminately.” - Jakarta Post/ANN
