Police Arrest 2 Ambassadors Of Online Gambling In Southeast Sulawesi

Illustration of online gambling (ANTARA)

The Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation (Dit Reskrimsus) of the Southeast Sulawesi Police (Sultra) arrested two female ambassadors who promoted online gambling through social media (medsos).

Director of Criminal Investigation at the Southeast Sulawesi Police, Kombes Pol. Bambang Wijanarko, said that the two women had the initials AA (19) and GA (23), respectively.

"The arrests were made after the two were caught red-handed disseminating gambling information through their Instagram accounts," said Bambang, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, July 23. He explained that the arrests of the two perpetrators began on Friday (12/7) at around 10.30 WITA, the Tipidsiber Sub-Directorate V team who was conducting cyber patrols found the Instagram accounts of the two women who uploaded online gambling links.

"After confirming that the link is aimed at the gambling site, personnel will immediately conduct profiling to track down the account owner," he said.

Bambang Wijanarko revealed that when he was arrested, the online website link or gambling link was still installed on their respective Instagram accounts.

He said that after pocketing the addresses of the two perpetrators, the police officers went straight to East Kolaka Regency to arrest the first perpetrator with the initials AA, and then continued to Kolaka Regency to arrest GA.

"The two perpetrators were arrested and taken to the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police for further investigation," he said.

Currently, the two perpetrators are undergoing examination to uncover the network and modus operandi carried out in the case.

"Investigators are currently developing this case to identify a wider network involved in online gambling operations. Enforcement efforts will continue to be carried out in order to create a digital environment that is safe and free from illegal activities," he said.

He mentioned that the two women were arrested under Law Number 1 of 2024 concerning the second amendment to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE), Article 27 Paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 45 Paragraph (3).

"The article regulates the distribution, transmission, and provision of access to electronic information containing gambling content without rights," he said.

Bambang Wijanarko also said that the arrests of the two women were a form of effort from the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police to eradicate online gambling which was increasingly rife in the community.

He appealed to the entire community not to be involved in these illegal activities anymore, and immediately report to the police officers if they know information related to online gambling.