Surabaya Immigration Thwarts Plans For 5 Indonesian Citizens To Sell Kidneys To India, Accompanied By Rp600 Million In Cash

SURABAYA - Immigration Office Officer Class I Special for TPI Surabaya in collaboration with Juanda Air Base personnel succeeded in thwarting the efforts of five Indonesian citizens who wanted to sell their kidneys illegally to India while at Terminal 2 Juanda International Airport, Surabaya.

Head of the Class I Immigration Office of the Surabaya TPI, Ramdhani, said the initial confession of a passenger sparked suspicion from officers when an Indonesian citizen planning to use a Malindo Air flight with the number OD353 to Surabaya-Kuala Lumpur, as well as a follow-up flight with the number OD205 on the Kuala Lumpur-New Delhi route, India.

"When we arrived at the initial examination at the departure counter, our team was suspicious of the Indonesian citizen because the information submitted by the Indonesian citizen had many irregularities. This Indonesian citizen admitted that he wanted to seek treatment, but there was a lot of information that was not in sync with the data they had," said Ramdhanidi. reported by ANTARA, Monday, November 11th.

After further examination, Ramdhani explained, it was revealed that not only one person, but five people were suspected of being involved in illegal sales and kidney transplant schemes.

Five people suspected of illegally transplanting and buying and selling human kidney organs, namely AFH (31) from Sidoarjo, AWSR (28) from Sidoarjo, RAHM (29) from Malang, MBA (29) and NIR (28), both from Sukoharjo.

"AFH and his wife ASWR admitted to officers that they planned to travel under the pretext of treating skin diseases. However, the medical documents they had turned out to lead to an urology examination and kidney transplantation," he said.

The results of the investigation revealed that the five Indonesian citizens were not single actors, but part of a structured network that utilized digital platforms to facilitate transactions.

"We found digital communication that shows the involvement of intermediaries and donors, as well as the use of social media to find new victims," added Ramdhani.

One of them admitted that he had been involved in similar transactions in the past.

"One of the perpetrators even admitted that he had sold his own kidney and was active as a recruiter who looked for donors through social media," said Ramdhani.

He and his wife allegedly managed logistics for this network, indicating a higher coordination rate than expected.

In addition, the alleged perpetrator who will carry out the kidney transplant admitted that he had been lured to pay Rp600 million.

"The Rp600 million fee was not immediately given. So, the Rp600 million was divided into several stages, the first was Rp2 million and then handed over upon arrival in India until after undergoing surgery," said Ramdhani.

From the results of the interim examination, the alleged perpetrators violated Law Number 17 of 2023 concerning Health with a maximum imprisonment of seven years or a maximum fine of IDR 2 billion.