Central Sulawesi Police Continues To Explore Baby Trading With Cross-Provincial Adoption Mode

A number of suspects in the infant trafficking TIP case were presented at a press conference at the Central Sulawesi Police Headquarters. (Photo via ANTARA/Kristina Natalia)

PALU - Central Sulawesi Regional Police (Polda) dismantled the cross-provincial baby trade network. This case was revealed based on reports of child kidnapping on May 31, 2023.

Currently, the Central Sulawesi Police are still investigating cases of infant trafficking carried out through social media with this adoption mode. "We are still investigating the extent to which the baby trade network occurred in Central Sulawesi, what is the mode, and the use of social media," said the Director of Criminal Investigation at the Central Sulawesi Police, Kombes Parajohan Simanjuntak, as quoted from Antara, Friday, June 30. Parajohan said that the case of infant trafficking in his area was a cross-provincial case so it was necessary to develop the police in the area concerned. "Not only in the Central Sulawesi region, but the baby was brought to other provinces so that its development involved the police in several areas," said Parajohan.

From the results of the investigation and provisional examination, he said, the suspect admitted that he had traded babies nine times so that the police were still investigating the network. "We continue to investigate whether there are other suspects and in any area, what is clear is that they sell the baby to people who need children," he said.

Previously, the Central Sulawesi Regional Police had named six suspects as a result of development in the Bekasi, West Java, and Bangka Belitung areas. The six suspects, namely M alias CM (41), KL alias L (35), YN (45), A alias Y (35), RS alias R (39), SS alias S (29), and F are still being searched. "The case is still under investigation. We confiscated evidence from several mobile phones, books, documents, departure tickets, and faked birth certificates that last held the baby," he said.