21-7-2023 (JAKARTA) Indonesian authorities have arrested 12 people, including a policeman and an immigration officer, on charges of trafficking 122 people to Cambodia for the purpose of selling their kidneys, officials confirmed on Thursday. The suspects are accused of violating Indonesia’s human trafficking law and could face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to 600 million rupiah ($40,040) if convicted.
According to Hengki Haryadi, director of the criminal investigation unit at Jakarta Police, the suspects recruited people from across Indonesia through social media and sent them to Cambodia for kidney transplant surgery, promising the victims 135 million rupiah ($9,009) each.
“The victims agreed to sell their organs because they needed money. Most of them lost their jobs during the pandemic,” Hengki told reporters.
Indonesia is no stranger to human trafficking, mainly for labour and often through debt-based coercion. In 2019, authorities arrested eight people over what was the country’s biggest-ever human trafficking bust, with about 1,200 victims taken abroad as domestic workers.
