Over 80 Foreign Nationals Arrested in Eswatini Online Gambling Crackdown
The Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), Mbabane Police recently arrested more than 80 foreign nationals who were allegedly operating sophisticated gambling activities without the required legal permits.
The intelligence-driven raid took place at the Castle Hotel in Mbabane. The group of suspects includes nationals from Asia, specifically Mainland Chinese and Indonesians, as well as Tanzanians and Brazilians. All suspects were found to be in the country illegally. Most of the individuals did not enter Eswatini through official ports of entry, leading to strong suspicions that they may have been smuggled into the country.
Even among those who entered through legal channels, such as a few Brazilian nationals, authorities found that they lacked valid visas or possessed passports that had not been stamped by immigration officials. Additionally, some individuals who had entered legally were found to have overstayed their permitted duration under the Immigration Act.
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Preliminary investigations revealed that the syndicate specifically targeted victims outside Eswatini‘s borders. Furthermore, the operation appeared to be fraudulent, police noted that victims who supposedly won on the platform never received their winning money.
During the operation, the authorities seized a wide range of electronic equipment, including laptops and desktop computers believed to have been used to facilitate an online gambling platform.
The suspects are scheduled to make their initial appearance before the Mbabane Magistrate’s Court. Nosipho Mnguni, Assistant Superintendent and Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer, stated, “Investigations are ongoing to establish what their mission in the country was and whether their activities were legal.”
