West Java Police Name 6 New Suspects In Case Of Selling Babies To Singapore

BANDUNG - The West Java Regional Police have again named six new suspects in the disclosure of the network baby trafficking syndicate case to Singapore, after previously successfully arresting 16 suspects.

Director of the General Criminal Investigation of the West Java Police, Kombes Surawan, said the suspects were arrested in the past week in the Pontianak area, West Kalimantan. They each had the initials TSH, KR, DI, DA, FL, and ML.

"Four people we brought here to be detained, while we did not arrest the other two because they were pregnant," said Surawan in Bandung, Wednesday, July 30, as reported by ANTARA.

Surawan explained that even though they were not detained, the two female suspects were still subject to mandatory reporting and were under the supervision of the local police.

He said the six people were still in the same network as the previous 16 suspects. Their roles in this network vary, ranging from fake parents to baby caregivers.

"In the arrest, we also secured a number of important documents, such as baby passports, fake parental passports, and notary documents related to the alleged illegal adoption process," he said.

Surawan said that his party also helped save two babies who were suspected of being flown to Singapore to be handed over to prospective adopters. Both are male and female, each of whom is under the age of one year.

"We are still investigating the proposals of these two babies. The baby has undergone a medical examination at the hospital and will later be placed in an orphanage," said Surawan.

For their actions, the six suspects were charged with Article 2 Paragraph (1) of Law Number 21 of 2007 concerning the Crime of Trafficking in Persons (TPPO), with a maximum prison sentence of 15 years and a fine of up to Rp600 million.