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'Reserved in the womb' and sold for £500: Indonesian Police bust baby trafficking ring
BBC News ^ | 02/18/26 | Quinawaty Pasaribu, BBC Jakarta and Gavin Butler,BBC

Posted on 02/18/2026 8:17:52 PM PST by SeekAndFind

Indonesian police have uncovered an international baby trafficking syndicate which has allegedly sold at least 25 infants to buyers in Singapore since 2023.

Authorities made 13 arrests related to the syndicate in the Indonesian cities of Pontianak and Tangerang this week, and rescued six babies who were about to be trafficked – all of whom are around a year old.

"The babies were first housed in Pontianak and had their immigration documents arranged before being sent to Singapore," West Java Police's director of general criminal investigation, Surawan, told BBC News Indonesia.

BBC News has contacted Singapore Police and Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs for comment, but received no response.

The syndicate's alleged modus operandi was to target parents or expectant mothers who allegedly did not want to raise their child - in some cases initiating contact via Facebook before pivoting to more private channels such as WhatsApp, according to police.

"Some babies were even reserved while still in the womb," Surawan said. "Once born, the delivery costs were covered, then compensation money was given, and the baby was taken."

Police said members of the group included recruiters who tracked down babies to be trafficked; caretakers and people who housed them; and others who prepared fraudulent civil documents such as family cards and passports, he explained.

After being taken from their mothers, the babies were given to caretakers for two to three months before being sent to Jakarta and then Pontianak, where their birth certificates, passports, and documents were prepared, police said.

The babies were sold for between 11 million Indonesian rupiah ($673; £502) and 16 million Indonesian rupiahs each, they added.

According to some of those arrested, the syndicate sold at least 12 male and 13 female babies domestically and abroad

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: baby; indonesia; trafficking
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Indonesian police on Thursday said that their "immediate task" was to find the adopters in Singapore.

"We will cross-check the data with the babies who departed, so we know exactly who departed, who accompanied them, when they departed, and who the adopters there are," Surawan told reporters.

Most of the information gathered by police indicated that the babies had changed nationality, he added, noting that authorities were still looking for their passports.

1 posted on 02/18/2026 8:17:52 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Rent-A-Womb.

What a YuppieDINC concept!

/S


2 posted on 02/18/2026 9:50:37 PM PST by lightman (Beat the Philly fraud machine the Amish did onest, ja? Nein, zweimal they did already!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Hope the DINC-donks bone up on saltpeter to clean up the gene pool!


3 posted on 02/18/2026 9:53:55 PM PST by lightman (Beat the Philly fraud machine the Amish did onest, ja? Nein, zweimal they did already!)
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To: lightman

Saved from becoming beef jerky perhaps.


4 posted on 02/19/2026 12:06:26 AM PST by I-ambush (From the brightest star comes the blackest holeYou had so much to offer, why didya offer your soul?)
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