Indonesian immigration authorities have arrested 103 Taiwan passport holders suspected of running a cyber crime operation out of the island of Bali.
The raid on June 26 was the biggest arrest this year, the Immigration agency said.
Currently, the 103 foreigners, including 91 men and 12 women, are being temporarily held at the Denpasar Immigration Detention Center (Rudenim). They will be deported soon.
Officers confiscated several items during the search that were suspected to be related to online crime, including 450 cell phones, many electronic devices, passports, wireless internet equipment, and laptops.
Bali Immigration Director Saffar Muhammad Godam told reporters that authorities would soon deport the Taiwan passport holders after arresting them in a sting operation at a villa in Bali’s Tabanan district.
“The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cyber crime activities. They committed scamming or fraud targeting foreigners in foreign countries, such as Malaysia,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the Press conference.
He said that those arrested were also suspected of misusing their visas and residence permits.
Reports in Indonesian media quoted the Head of the Immigration Supervision Team at Bali Immigration, Arief Eka Riyanto, as saying that they came to Bali in 2023-2024, with limited stay visas and holiday visas.
Godam said that Directorate General of Immigration did not find any criminal elements in their arrest. So, it could not be escalated to the investigation stage.
“They carry out activities in Indonesia but the victims are in other countries. It is difficult to fulfill the criminal elements in this case,” Godam added.
He said that online fraud targeting victims outside Indonesia, was a pattern of transnational crime. Hence, his side took administrative action with deportation, as they misused their residence permits.
Reuters could not immediately contact legal representatives of the Taiwan passport holders.
According to news reports in a section of international media, Indonesia’s Directorate General of Immigration intends to carry out another joint operation to keep a watch on foreign nationals in Bali. This step aims to maintain order and security besides ensuring that foreigners staying on the island are following rules and regulations.
(With Inputs From Reuters)
