Authorities across Asia have continued to crack down on illegal gambling activity across the region.
At the beginning of the week, Indonesia’s immigration officials deported a group of Chinese citizens accused of being involved in an online gambling syndicate and investment fraud scheme based on the island of Batam.
Meanwhile, two individuals were returned to South Korea from the UAE who are alleged to have targeted South Korean players through two different illegal gambling networks.
Indonesia banishes suspects
92 suspects have been blacklisted from Indonesia and were returned to Guangzhou in China at the request of the Chinese authorities, according to Jakarta Global.
Immigration Director General Hendarsam Marantoko told local reporters that he expected the deportation to act as a ‘strong deterrent’ for other foreign nationals engaging in similar activity.
“We will not provide any room for foreigners who threaten public order and national security,” he added.
In May, police raids in Indonesia led to the arrest of more than 300 foreign nationals allegedly linked to illegal online gambling operations.
Of the 321 arrested in Jakarta, 228 were from Vietnam, a further 57 were from China, and the rest came from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia.
At the time, Wira Satya Triputra, the Indonesian Police’s Director of General Crimes, claimed that the gambling hub located close to Jakarta’s Chinatown section was responsible for over 70 online gaming websites that have been targeting international players.
All forms of gambling are illegal in Indonesia, however, authorities continue to be forced to confront the country’s extensive black market.
Indonesia’s Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) has estimated that 422.1 million online gambling transactions took place in 2025, with a total deposit value of 36trn rupiah (£1.52bn).
Like many nations in the region, Indonesia also warned about the impact of the ongoing FIFA World Cup to spike gambling activity.
Ahead of the tournament beginning in June, Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko, Head of the Public Information Bureau for the Indonesian National Police’s Public Relations Division, told the press that the country’s authorities must ‘jointly anticipate football gambling’ and not allow fanfare around the tournament to be ‘exploited for illegal activities that could cause losses’.
Suspects returned to South Korea
Elsewhere, two South Korean citizens who are suspected of being part of separate multi-million-pound networks have been returned to South Korea, according to reports by the Yonhap News Agency.
The first suspect’s network is said to be worth over 4.8trn won (£2.37bn), and Police said that he has been evading arrest for 12 years while allegedly laundering the proceeds of his crimes across multiple Southeast Asian nations.
Meanwhile, the second suspect is believed to have been at the centre of a 500b won (£247m) gambling site.
South Korean police praised extensive cooperation with its UAE counterparts, who helped to facilitate the extradition from the country, despite air transport challenges posed by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Authorities said: “We will continue to track down and arrest similar cyber gambling organisations that flee overseas through strong determination and international cooperation.”
The extradition comes just a week after South Korea said that they had identified over 2000 suspects with alleged links to illegal gambling during an eight-month investigation.
Despite an almost blanket prohibition on online gambling, the illegal gambling market is estimated to be worth 49trn won (£23.9bn), according to the National Gambling Control Commission of Korea, compared to just 6.9trn won (£3.36bn) for the regulated sector.
