Eswatini’s Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) has told the High Court that the country’s illegal online gambling investigation has expanded into an international fraud and organised crime probe.
Detective Constable Ntokozo Dlamini of the Organised Crime Unit filed the affidavit. According to the document, Telegram and WhatsApp material recovered from seized devices pointed to alleged links between the criminal enterprise and senior politicians, police officials and immigration officials.
The court papers say more than 400 electronic devices are under forensic examination, with assistance from INTERPOL.
INTERPOL’s own public account of the case, released under Operation First Light 2026, cites 240 devices seized and 82 people arrested in the specific highlighted Eswatini action.
Police seized the devices during coordinated raids on premises in Mbabane and Ezulwini earlier in 2026, including at Castle Hotel in Mbabane. Officers say the hotel served as one of the syndicate’s principal command centres.
A gambling raid to an international probe
The investigation began as a domestic illegal gambling and immigration case. The Royal Eswatini Police Service raided several sites in and around Mbabane in March 2026, arresting 146 foreign nationals, many of them Chinese, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Cambodian and Brazilian.
Police seized 313 electronic devices during that first phase. The suspects face charges under the Gaming Control Act, the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act and the Immigration Act.
The subsequent forensic examination broadened the investigation. According to Detective Constable Dlamini, extracted material shows an organised operation targeting victims in Brazil and India while running unlicensed online gambling platforms from Eswatini.
Investigators say the syndicate pooled proceeds and converted them into cryptocurrency, chiefly USDT, before routing them through financial institutions in Abu Dhabi and the United States and back into Eswatini.
Fake Brazilian police and confidentiality contracts
The wider investigation also uncovered an elaborate impersonation scam linked to the criminal network. Investigators found what appeared to be a fake Brazilian police holding facility at Castle Hotel, complete with Brazilian police uniforms, a bulletproof vest, five communication radios and a Brazilian Federal Police badge.
Members of the network posed as Brazilian Federal Police officers during video calls. They told targets they were under criminal investigation. Victims were pressured to sign fraudulent “confidentiality agreements” and to transfer money to accounts supposedly held by the Brazilian Central Bank for “safekeeping”.
INTERPOL identified approximately 40 Brazilian citizens defrauded by the operation. It deployed its Operational Support Team to Eswatini as part of Operation First Light 2026, which intercepted illicit assets worth US$293 million across 97 countries.
Police push for a licence freeze
The political pressure on Eswatini’s licensing regime has grown in parallel. National Commissioner of Police Vusi Manoma Masango wrote to the principal secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs on 2 June 2026, recommending temporary suspension of gambling licence issuance pending the outcome of the investigation.
The memorandum, copied to home affairs, the attorney general and the Eswatini Financial Intelligence Unit, warned that continued licence issuance during an active probe could invite further infiltration.
“The continued issuance of licences during the pendency of investigations may inadvertently create opportunities for further infiltration by criminal elements whose intentions may undermine the country’s internal security, economic integrity and investor confidence,” the memorandum reads.
Masango has also publicly ruled out political immunity for anyone implicated.
“No individual is above the law, regardless of rank or political influence and we do not fear them,” he told the Times of Eswatini on 3 August.
Senators ask prime minister to investigate
The investigation has now reached parliament. Senate Deputy President Ndumiso Mdluli asked Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini in mid-August to investigate whether politicians were unwittingly renting out accommodation to foreign nationals involved in illegal online gambling.
“I also want to request the PM as well, he must investigate for us and ascertain if these criminals who have been involved in online gambling are not in the homes of some of us,” Mdluli said in the Senate.
Mdluli also flagged that penalties remain low enough for offenders to pay a fine and move on.
In June, 84 of the arrested foreign nationals were convicted of immigration offences, not gambling offences. Principal Magistrate Fikile Nhlabatsi handed down six-month sentences with the option of paying a fine of E500 ($30).
Investigation puts regulatory framework under scrutiny
Eswatini’s Gaming Control Act of 2022 is in force, but its implementing regulations are still being developed. MPs called for new gambling licences to be halted until the regulations are finalised and tabled before parliament, first during a House of Assembly sitting on 18 December 2025.
The Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs has since paused new applications and renewed only four existing licences under strict oversight. The Ministry of Finance has told the High Court that the unregulated environment risks landing Eswatini on international financial-crime grey lists.
The forensic examination of the seized devices continues. The police say they will produce a comprehensive report at a later stage.
The findings could add further pressure on Eswatini to strengthen its gambling regulatory and enforcement framework. Either way, what began in March 2026 as a raid on unlicensed operators in Mbabane and Ezulwini has become a much larger case involving multiple victims in a wide-ranging and sophisticated scam. In all likelihood, it will have a significant impact on how gambling is regulated going forwards.
斯威士兰皇家警察服务（REPS）已向高等法院表示，该国非法在线赌博调查已扩大为一项国际欺诈和有组织犯罪调查。
有组织犯罪部门的警探Ntokozo Dlamini提交了宣誓证词。根据该文件，从被扣押设备中恢复的Telegram和WhatsApp资料显示，该犯罪集团与高级政客、警察官员和移民官员之间存在涉嫌关联。
法庭文件称，在国际刑警组织的协助下，超过400台电子设备正在接受法证检验。
国际刑警组织自己对该案的公开说明是在“第一缕光行动2026”下发布的，其中提到在特别标出的斯威士兰行动中扣押了240台设备并逮捕了82人。
警方在2026年早些时候对姆巴巴内和埃祖尔维尼的多处场所进行协调突袭时扣押了这些设备，其中包括姆巴巴内的Castle Hotel。警官称，该酒店是该犯罪集团的主要指挥中心之一。
从赌博突袭到国际调查
该调查最初是一起国内非法赌博和移民案件。斯威士兰皇家警察服务在2026年3月突袭了姆巴巴内及其周边多个地点，逮捕了146名外国公民，其中许多是中国人、台湾人、印度尼西亚人、柬埔寨人和巴西人。
警方在第一阶段扣押了313台电子设备。嫌疑人面临《博彩控制法》、《反洗钱和打击资助恐怖主义（预防）法》以及《移民法》下的指控。
随后的法证检验扩大了调查范围。据警探Dlamini称，提取的材料显示，这是一个有组织的行动，在从斯威士兰运营无牌在线赌博平台的同时，针对巴西和印度的受害者。
调查人员称，该犯罪集团汇集收益并将其转换为加密货币，主要是USDT，然后通过阿布扎比和美国的金融机构转移，再回流至斯威士兰。
假巴西警察与保密合同
更广泛的调查还发现了一个与该犯罪网络有关的精心设计的冒充诈骗。调查人员在Castle Hotel发现了一个看似假冒的巴西警察拘留场所，内有巴西警察制服、一件防弹背心、五部通信电台和一枚巴西联邦警察徽章。
该网络成员在视频通话中冒充巴西联邦警察。他们告诉目标对象其正在接受刑事调查。受害者被迫签署欺诈性的“保密协议”，并将资金转入据称由巴西中央银行持有用于“保管”的账户。
国际刑警组织确认约有40名巴西公民被该行动诈骗。作为“第一缕光行动2026”的一部分，该组织向斯威士兰部署了其行动支持小组；该行动在97个国家拦截了价值2.93亿美元的非法资产。
警方推动冻结牌照
与此同时，斯威士兰牌照制度面临的政治压力也在上升。国家警察总监Vusi Manoma Masango于2026年6月2日致函旅游和环境事务部常务秘书，建议暂停发放赌博牌照，直至调查结果出炉。
该备忘录抄送内政部、总检察长和斯威士兰金融情报部门，警告称在调查进行期间继续发放牌照可能招致进一步渗透。
备忘录写道：“在调查尚未结束期间继续发放牌照，可能会无意中为犯罪分子的进一步渗透创造机会，而这些人的意图可能损害该国的内部安全、经济诚信和投资者信心。”
Masango还公开排除了对任何涉案人员的政治豁免。
他在8月3日对《斯威士兰时报》表示：“任何人都不能凌驾于法律之上，无论其级别或政治影响力如何，我们不怕他们。”
参议员要求首相调查
该调查现已触及议会。参议院副议长Ndumiso Mdluli于8月中旬要求首相Russell Mmiso Dlamini调查是否有政客在不知情的情况下将住所出租给参与非法在线赌博的外国公民。
Mdluli在参议院表示：“我也想请求首相，他必须为我们进行调查，并查明这些参与在线赌博的罪犯是否住在我们一些人的家中。”Mdluli在参议院说。
Mdluli还指出，处罚仍然过低，以至于违法者可以缴纳罚款后继续逍遥法外。
6月，84名被捕外国公民因移民罪而非赌博罪被定罪。首席治安法官Fikile Nhlabatsi判处六个月监禁，并可选择缴纳500埃马兰吉尼（30美元）罚款。
调查使监管框架受到审视
斯威士兰2022年《博彩控制法》已经生效，但其实施条例仍在制定中。议员们呼吁在条例最终确定并提交议会之前停止发放新的赌博牌照，首次提出是在2025年12月18日众议院会议上。
旅游和环境事务部此后已暂停新申请，并仅在严格监督下续签了四个现有牌照。财政部已告知高等法院，这种缺乏监管的环境可能使斯威士兰被列入国际金融犯罪灰名单。
对被扣押设备的法证检验仍在继续。警方表示，他们将在稍后阶段出具一份全面报告。
调查结果可能进一步加大斯威士兰加强其赌博监管和执法框架的压力。无论如何，2026年3月始于对姆巴巴内和埃祖尔维尼无牌运营商的突袭，如今已演变成一起规模大得多的案件，涉及广泛而复杂的诈骗中的多名受害者。十有八九，这将对未来赌博监管方式产生重大影响。