East Timorese President José Ramos-Horta stressed the urgent need to strengthen the fight against illegal online activities and transnational organized crime syndicates targeting the nation.
“My political message is this: we must firmly combat everyone involved in illegal online gambling activities and other types of organized crime,” Ramos-Horta declared. “There can be no complacency whatsoever for anyone involved.”
The president made these remarks to journalists in Dili following a swearing-in ceremony for new prosecutors at the Attorney General’s Office. According to Ramos-Horta, the rise of organized cybercrime is a shared challenge across all member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
“They think East Timor is an easy target because it is a small and fragile country,” Ramos-Horta explained, noting that international syndicates exploit developing legal frameworks.
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Despite East Timor’s small size and limited resources, the head of state emphasized that the country has identified the threat early and is actively adopting preventative measures to dismantle criminal networks.
“We must be careful,” Ramos-Horta warned. “When they are detained, they cannot be set free or allowed to flee. They must be put in prison, and they must stay there.”
The president issued a direct appeal to the Scientific Police for Criminal Investigation (PCIC), the National Police of East Timor (PNTL), and the Attorney General’s Office to scale up operational coordination with intelligence and law enforcement agencies across the Southeast Asian sub-region.
Furthermore, Ramos-Horta indicated that the government is evaluating legislative updates to match the evolving threat. “We need to assess whether new, potentially stricter legislation is required so that anyone involved in these offenses can be charged with participation in a criminal organization and taken immediately to prison,” he concluded.
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The push for tighter security controls follows a string of high-profile enforcement operations. Since June, the PNTL has detained more than 200 foreign nationals inside East Timor for operating illicit online networks.
