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Read Full BioAn Indonesian crackdown on illegal gambling and betting websites is intensifying, with police arresting two people accused of operating the TAHU69 portal.
The media outlet Kita Indonesia Satu reported that police in the capital have arrested two people. Officers allege that these individuals were the site’s co-owners.
The site appears to have been taken offline sometime in early to mid-April, which coincides with a police probe.
Indonesian Gambling Crackdown: Police Step up Efforts
The Indonesian National Police’s Directorate of General Criminal Investigation said that a cyber unit managed to track down the coordinates of the operators to an address in Tangerang on April 17.
Tangerang is Indonesia’s sixth-largest city and is located on the island of Java.
The TAHU69 portal appears to have launched in January this year. It offered its visitors various gambling services, including odds on soccer games. It also provided slots, as well as other casino games. Police said the site also held illegal lotteries and offered cockfighting betting services.
Officers said the suspects are both in their late twenties. They arrested one of the men at a housing complex in Batam, Riau Islands, on April 26.
After an extended search, a second man was arrested on 2 May at a commercial building in Cakung, East Jakarta. Police have retained the duo in custody.
Site Operated for Four Months, Officers Claim
A police spokesperson said the site generated monthly profits of around 100 million rupiah (over $6,000).
Metropolitan police outlined that their investigation into the site is ongoing, with a hunt for accomplices continuing.
The spokesperson warned that while the ongoing crackdown on online gambling operators was proving successful, new Indonesian-language gambling sites continue to spring up.
The official urged members of the public to report any sites they think may be offering citizens gambling services.
In addition, citizens should also report suspicious bank accounts they think may be linked with gambling-related activities to a government-run online transaction fraud watchdog.
Multiple Police Operations
Earlier this month, the police force’s Criminal Investigation Agency said that its officers froze cash deposits worth $16 million, seized four motor vehicles, and confiscated a range of “financial instruments” from two business executives.
The executives, police think, used the accounts of their IT-related firm and a shell company to process millions of USD worth of money from illegal online betting networks.
Also, this month, government officials said they have frozen over 5,000 bank accounts and around $36.2 million of gambling-linked funds.
President Prabowo Subianto’s government says it has “intensified” its nationwide anti-gambling drive, which was first launched by former Indonesian leader Joko Widodo in late 2024.
