Police Name 3 Suspects Of Trafficking In Gorontalo

Head of Public Relations of the Gorontalo Police, Kombes Pol. Desmont Harjendro (center) (ANTARA/Zulkifli Polimengo)

GORONTALO - The General Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Gorontalo Regional Police (Polda) has named three suspects in the case of the Trafficking in Persons (TPPO).

Unit 2 Officer, Sub-Directorate IV of the Gorontalo Regional Police, Ipda Dyanita Shafira, said the three youths consisted of two women with the initials MS (23) and SMK (19), as well as one man with the initials RT (18).

"The disclosure of the TIP case began with routine patrol activities carried out by Sub-Directorate IV of the Regional Police Ditreskrimum in the Gorontalo City area," said Ipda Dyanita Shafira as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, October 11.

In the middle of the patrol, he said, personnel received information from the public that in one of the housing estates, there were activities that led to TIP and reportedly had greatly disturbed local residents.

Following up on the community's complaint, he said again, the patrol team immediately went to the house located in the residential area, Buladu Village, West City District, Gorontalo City.

Arriving at the location, personnel found seven youths consisting of women and men in the house.

The police found a number of evidences in the form of used tissues, a number of contraceptives or used condoms, as well as three cellphones that the suspect allegedly used to sell victims through one social communication application.

After a brief interrogation and findings were involved in the alleged TIP, the youths and evidence were immediately taken to the Gorontalo Police Headquarters and handed over to the Sub-Directorate IV of the Women and Children Protection Unit (PPA) of the Gorontalo Police Criminal Investigation Directorate for examination.

"The three of them had the same mode, at first the victim did not have a cellphone, then the suspect lent his cellphone to be used by the victim," said Dyanita Shafira.

In this case, the suspect found out that the victim was knowing that he was going to sell himself in the application using the suspect's cellphone.

From the results of serving guests, the suspect received profits ranging from Rp. 25,000 to Rp. 50,000, and some others were used to buy food.

"This suspect knows and does not prohibit the victim from selling himself in the application," he said.

He said that from this disclosure, it was confirmed that one female victim was 17 years old.

Meanwhile, according to the suspect's confession, the business has lasted more than four months.

It was later discovered that the modus operandi used was that the suspects sold the victim through one of the applications by being offered to the masher. That's where the suspects benefit from the results paid by the customer to the victim.

"This has been reported by members and made a police report model A, Number 15 month 10 of 2023, dated October 9, 2023," he said.

For their actions, these three teenagers were charged with Article 2 paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 21 of 2007, concerning the eradication of criminal acts of trafficking in persons, Sub-Article 296 of the Criminal Code, Sub-Article 88 of the Child Protection Law.

"We investigators will immediately complete the case file and temporarily collect clues and other evidence. We are also coordinating with the Social Service and P2TP2A to assist the victim's child to coordinate with experts in criminal acts of trafficking in persons," he added.