Surabaya Immigration Arrests Suspect Of Smuggling Fugitives From The NTT-AFP Police

The Surabaya Special Immigration Office arrested a man with Bangladeshi citizenship with the initials HR (34) who was on the wanted list (DPO) from the East Nusa Tenggara Police and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in connection with a criminal act of smuggling people.

Head of the Surabaya Immigration Office Ramdhani said HR's arrest was carried out on May 8, 2024, after tracking HR's whereabouts in Indonesia since January 2024.

"After we received a report on the alleged crime of human trafficking committed by a Bangladeshi citizen, we then began conducting an in-depth investigation since January 2024," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, May 17.

Ramdhani explained that HR is known to be in Indonesia because he is married to a woman from Indonesia in the East Java region.

Before arresting HR, his party had coordinated with related parties such as the police to follow up on the case.

"We will also continue to develop investigations to uncover human trafficking networks involving HR," he added.

According to Ramdhani, HR is suspected of carrying out activities to bring in foreigners such as from Bangladesh and Pakistan to Indonesia, then illegally dispatching them to Australia.

Ramdhani explained that HR's arrest was the result of cross-agency cooperation between Immigration Surabaya, the Sub-directorate of Investigation of the Directorate of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement of the Directorate General of Immigration, Polda NTT, and AFP.

In addition to arresting HR, his party arrested a man suspected of being a Bangladeshi citizen with the initials S in an apartment in Surabaya.

"S was found not to have a passport and we suspect that HR has brought him to Indonesia. Currently, the Bangladeshi citizen is still under investigation and the next steps will be determined," explained Ramdhani.