Indonesian police bust international baby trafficking ring, rescue six infants
JAKARTA (July 16): Indonesian police have busted an international baby trafficking syndicate believed to have been operating since 2023, rescuing six infants and arresting 12 suspects in a major cross-province operation.
Five of the babies were found in Pontianak, West Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, and taken to West Java police headquarters, while another was rescued from the Greater Jakarta area, police said.
West Java police spokesperson Commissioner Hendra Rochmawan said the suspects played various roles within the syndicate, including recruiting unborn babies, caring for them, and forging documents such as birth certificates and passports.
'The group also arranged the transport of the babies, who were allegedly intended for illegal adoption in Singapore,' he said in a statement.
Police seized forged identity documents, passports and ownership papers during the arrests.
According to West Java's General Criminal Investigations director Commissioner Surawan, one of the suspects had disclosed that five of the rescued babies had been scheduled to be sent to Singapore using fake paperwork.
He also said the biological mothers were paid amounts ranging from IDR 11 million to IDR 16 million (approximately US$740 to US$1,070).
The investigation, which began after a parent reported a suspected baby abduction, led police to uncover a wider trafficking network involving babies believed to have originated from various parts of West Java.
Police are now working with the Indonesian National Police's International Relations Division to investigate possible cross-border trafficking links. – Bernama baby indonesia police Singapore trafficking West Java
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Former US embassy guard in Norway on trial for spying for Russia, Iran
OSLO: A Norwegian who worked as a security guard for the US embassy in Oslo went on trial Wednesday, accused of sharing information with Russian and Iranian intelligence, media reported. The man, who is in his late 20s, is accused of having supplied information on embassy activities between March 2024 and November 20, the date of his arrest, according to the charge sheet. In return, he was paid in euros and bitcoin. He is accused of having supplied either the Russians or the Iranians – or both – with the contact details of diplomats, embassy staff and their families. He is also accused of having supplied the diplomatic licence-plate numbers of vehicles used by the embassy. The charge sheet also alleges he handed over floor plans of the embassy, security routines and a list of couriers Norway's intelligence service used. On the first day of his trial, prosecutors presented evidence in the form of an email to the Russian embassy where the man wrote that he had "information that could be useful to you," public broadcaster NRK reported. The trial is scheduled to take eight days. "He acknowledges the facts of the case but denies criminal liability. He is sorry for what he has done, but he is not a spy," Inger Zadig, the defendant's lawyer, told news agency NTB. If convicted of the charges, he could spend up to 21 years in jail, the prosecution service told AFP in July. Norway's intelligence service has regularly accused Russia, Iran and China as being the greatest threats to the country so far as spying is concerned.
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Kneecap rapper faces court on terror charge over Hizbollah flag
LONDON: A member of Irish rap band Kneecap was due to appear in court on Wednesday charged with a terror offence for allegedly supporting Hizbollah. Liam O'Hanna, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged in May after being accused of displaying a Hizbollah flag during a London concert in November. The hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London is expected to hear legal arguments on whether the charge falls outside a six-month time limit, a court official confirmed. Since Hizbollah was banned in the UK in 2019, it has been an offence to show support for the Iran-backed Lebanese force. Kneecap has grabbed headlines for statements denouncing the war in Gaza and against Israel. The hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London comes amid a growing controversy surrounding support for banned organisations. More than 700 people have been arrested, mostly at demonstrations, since the Palestine Action group was also outlawed in early July under the Terrorism Act 2000. The government ban on Palestine Action came into force days after it took responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England that caused an estimated £7.0 million (US$9.3 million) of damage to two aircraft. The group said its activists were responding to Britain's indirect military support for Israel during the war in Gaza. Supporting a proscribed group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Hundreds of fans cheered outside the central London court in June when O'Hanna, Liam Og O hAnnaidh in Gaelic, made his first appearance in June. Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the previous hearing the case was "not about Mr O'Hanna's support for the people of Palestine or his criticism of Israel." "He is well within his rights to voice his opinions and his solidarity," Bisgrove said. Instead, the prosecutor said, the case was about O'Hanna wearing and displaying "the flag of Hizbollah, a proscribed terrorist organisation, while allegedly saying 'Up Hamas, up Hizbollah'." The raucous punk-rap group has said the video that led to the charge was taken out of context. Daring provocateurs to their fans, dangerous extremists to their detractors, the group's members rap in the Irish language as well as English. Formed in 2017, the group is no stranger to controversy. Their lyrics are filled with references to drugs, they have repeatedly clashed with the UK's previous Conservative government and have vocally opposed British rule in Northern Ireland. Last year, the group was catapulted to international fame by a semi-fictional film based on them that scooped multiple awards including at the Sundance festival.
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Afghanistan bus crash death toll rises to 76
GUZARA: The death toll from a collision between a bus carrying Afghan migrants returning from Iran and two other vehicles in western Afghanistan has risen to 76, a provincial official said on Wednesday. "Seventy-six citizens of the country... lost their lives in the incident, and three others were seriously injured," Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, Herat provincial government spokesman, said in a statement. Police in Guzara district outside Herat city, where the accident took place on Tuesday night, said the bus collided with a motorcycle and a truck carrying fuel, sparking a fire. The bus was carrying Afghans recently returned from Iran to the capital Kabul, Saeedi told AFP on Tuesday. At least 1.5 million people have returned to Afghanistan since the start of this year from Iran and Pakistan, both of which have sought to force migrants out after decades of hosting them, according to the UN migration agency. The state-run Bakhtar News Agency said Tuesday's accident was one of the deadliest in the country in recent years. Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving on highways and a lack of regulation. In December last year, two bus accidents involving a fuel tanker and a truck on a highway through central Afghanistan killed at least 52.
