Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
18-07-2025
JAKARTA: Indonesian police have uncovered an international baby trafficking syndicate which has allegedly sold at least 25 infants to buyers in Singapore since 2023.
Authorities made 13 arrests related to the syndicate in the Indonesian cities of Pontianak and Tangerang this week, and rescued six babies who were about to be trafficked, all of whom are around a year old.
“The babies were first housed in Pontianak and had their immigration documents arranged before being sent to Singapore,” West Java Police’s director of general criminal investigation, Surawan, told media.
Media has contacted Singapore Police and Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs for comment but received no response.
The syndicate’s alleged modus operandi was to target parents or expectant mothers who allegedly did not want to raise their child, in some cases initiating contact via Facebook before pivoting to more private channels such as WhatsApp, according to police.
“Some babies were even reserved while still in the womb,” Surawan said. “Once born, the delivery costs were covered, then compensation money was given and the baby was taken.”
Police said members of the group included recruiters who tracked down babies to be trafficked; caretakers and people who housed them; and others who prepared fraudulent civil documents such as family cards and passports, he explained.
After being taken from their mothers, the babies were given to caretakers for two to three months before being sent to Jakarta and then Pontianak, where their birth certificates, passports, and documents were prepared, police said.
The babies were sold for between 11 million Indonesian rupiah ($673; £502) and 16 million Indonesian rupiahs each, they added.
According to some of those arrested, the syndicate sold at least 12 male and 13 female babies domestically and abroad, most of them having come from various districts and cities in the Indonesian province of West Java.
Indonesian police on Thursday said that their “immediate task” was to find the adopters in Singapore.
“We will cross-check the data with the babies who departed, so we know exactly who departed, who accompanied them, when they departed, and who the adopters there are,” Surawan told reporters.
Most of the information gathered by police indicated that the babies had changed nationality, he added, noting that authorities were still looking for their passports.
Surawan earlier told media that the babies were obtained through agreements between the traffickers and the parents, and that none so far had been taken by kidnapping. Parents who reported their child as kidnapped did so because the broker had failed to pay them, he said.
It is suspected that at least some parents may have agreed to sell their children due to financial hardship. They too could be charged with a criminal offence, Surawan said.
“If it is proven there was an agreement between the parents and the perpetrators, they can be charged with child protection crimes and human trafficking offenses,” he explained.
Police in Indonesia have requested assistance from Interpol and Singaporean police to arrest syndicate members who are still abroad, as well as buyers. (Int’l News Desk)
