11 TIP Cases In West Sumatra Revealed, The Motive For Trafficking In Prostitutes

PADANG - West Sumatra Regional Police revealed 11 cases of trafficking in persons that occurred in 12 districts / cities in the province. The motives used by the suspects were selling as commercial sex workers.

The Head of the West Sumatra Regional Police, Inspector General of Police Suharyono, said that from the TIP case that was revealed, there were 12 suspects who had been detained.

"A total of 24 victims were recorded. A total of 10 of them were in Malaysia, but not all were sent home due to administrative affairs," said Suharyono, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, June 20.

The Regional Police Chief said that the data collection on TIP victims was carried out from September 24, 2022, until now and his party continues to investigate this case to fully uncover the perpetrator's network.

He explained that there were two disclosures of the TIP case in West Pasaman, namely one case being handled by the West Pasaman Police and another case being handled by the General Criminal Investigation Directorate of the West Sumatra Police.

Then the Padang Police revealed two cases, the Pariaman Police had one case whose status was still being investigated, the Solok Police had one case, the Solok City Police had one case, and the South Solok Police had one case.

Furthermore, the South Coast Police handled one case, the Dharmasraya Police one case, and the Bukittinggi Police also had one case.

The Kapolda added that the perpetrators who were arrested at this time will be processed and investigated more deeply to uncover the network of the perpetrators.

"This TIP case is in the form of trading migrant workers and is also in the form of sexual exploitation to satisfy mashers," he said.

Suharyono added that the perpetrator's motive was to take economic advantage for personal gain by carrying out economic and sexual exploitation.

"A total of 11 cases have been revealed by the police in West Sumatra. This number is the highest nationally and is the concern of the National Police Chief and the President of the Republic of Indonesia," he added.

The Regional Police Chief admitted that at first he had doubts that there was a criminal act of trafficking in people in West Sumatra, but after being investigated, it turned out that the case was also there.

"In 2022, the West Sumatra Police revealed seven TIP cases and most of them are currently complete or P21," he said.

He said all perpetrators were charged with Article 4 of the TIP Eradication Law with a penalty of three years imprisonment and a maximum of 15 years and a minimum fine of Rp120 million and a maximum of Rp600 million.