Badung, Bali Daily – Bali immigration officers raided two online gambling hubs in the Kuta tourist area on Thursday morning (October 29, 2026), arresting 21 foreign nationals from Vietnam, Myanmar and the People’s Republic of China. Officers also seized electronic devices including more than a dozen laptops, dozens of mobile phones, several computers and iPads.
“We carry out immigration supervision consistently to ensure that every foreign national in Indonesia complies with the applicable regulations and permit requirements,” Director General of Immigration Hendarsam Marantoko said in an official statement on Thursday evening.
According to Hendarsam, the foreign nationals were arrested on suspicion of misusing their residence permits by operating an international online gambling website. Financial transactions were carried out through the digital payment platforms Alipay and WeChat Pay.
“We do not tolerate the misuse of residence permits, particularly where there are indications of involvement in criminal acts such as online gambling,” Hendarsam said.
Bali immigration officers Monitored The Suspicious Activities
Hendarsam explained that officers had monitored the group’s suspicious activities for several days before the raid. At 7 a.m. Central Indonesia Time (WITA). The team entered the two suspected houses after coordinating with the housing estate’s security staff, the neighbourhood head and a local property agent.
In the raid on the first house, immigration officers detained eight Vietnamese nationals. At the second house, officers detained 12 Myanmar nationals and one Chinese national.
The electronic evidence seized by Bali immigration officers comprised 36 personal mobile phones, 29 work phones, 18 work laptops, six desktop computers (PCs) and three iPads.
According to the Bali immigration office’s examination, some of the foreign nationals held a pre-investment visit stay permit (ITK Prainvestasi), while others held a limited stay permit for remote workers (ITAS Remote Worker). They are suspected of being operators of the online gambling site macaujc.com.
“All the foreign nationals, together with the evidence, have now been taken to the Bali Immigration Detention Centre for further examination,” Hendarsam concluded. (*)
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