Indonesia arrests dozens in Bali gambling crackdown

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JAKARTA - Indonesian authorities have arrested dozens of Indian nationals in a crackdown on online gambling operations on the popular tourist island of Bali, police said Saturday.

Gambling is illegal in the Muslim-majority archipelago, with punishments extended to bookmakers, punters and those who promote gambling content online.

Police raided two villas on the resort island on Tuesday, arresting 39 Indian nationals and seizing phones, laptops and computers, Bali police chief Daniel Adityajaya said.

He said 35 of the suspects had been charged with gambling-related offences, while four others remained under questioning.

The suspects, who entered Indonesia on tourist visas, have allegedly been promoting and managing transactions for an online gambling site since late last year.

The operation brought in up to 8 billion rupiah (around $475,00) a month, said the police chief.

"A preliminary investigation shows that they opened and operated an office in Bali to take advantage of Bali's status as an international tourist destination to avoid suspicion," he added.

They face multiple charges, including organising gambling activities, which under Indonesia's new penal code carries a sentence of up to nine years in prison, Bali police said in a statement.

Turnover linked to online gambling reached more than 280 trillion rupiah last year, official data showed, with more than 12 million Indonesians estimated to be engaged in the illicit activity.