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JAKARTA, May 9 (Reuters) – Indonesian police on Saturday arrested 321 foreign nationals, mainly from Vietnam, for alleged \u200cinvolvement in banned online gambling, officials said.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The suspects \u200cwere arrested in an office building in Central Jakarta as authorities pursue \u200bcrackdowns on online gambling — which is banned in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation — and on international criminal syndicates.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Those arrested included 228 people from Vietnam, 57 from China, 13 from \u200cMyanmar, 11 from Laos, \u2060five from Thailand and three from Cambodia, Wira Satya Triputra, director of the Indonesian police \u2060force’s crime investigation unit, said at a press conference.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The suspects have been running the online gambling operation for two months, \u200bWira \u200bsaid.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Of the 321 people \u200barrested, he said 275 were \u200caccused of violating Indonesia’s criminal code on gambling, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of nine years.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Wira said most of the foreigners were aware that they came to Indonesia to run online gambling operations, adding that they \u200clargely targeted foreign customers.<\/p>\n
\u2022 An official \u200bwith Interpol Indonesia, Untung Widyatmoko, told \u200bthe press conference \u200bthat there is a trend of online gambling \u200coperations moving from Cambodian cities \u200bto Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\u2022 It \u200bwas the second round-up of a large group of foreigners in two days. On Friday, Indonesia’s immigration authorities \u200barrested 210 foreign \u200cnationals allegedly involved in online investment scams on Batam \u200bisland, around 20 km from Singapore.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Ananda \u200bTeresia; Editing by Aidan Lewis)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n