Mataram Job Training Head Named Suspect in Human Trafficking to Japan

The head of a Job Training Institute (LPK) with the initials KM in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), has been named a suspect in a criminal case of human trafficking (TPPO) with Japan as the destination. The perpetrator recruited prospective migrant workers illegally and gained tens of millions of rupiah in profit. The Director of Women and Children Protection and Human Trafficking Eradication (Dirres PPA-PPO) of the NTB Regional Police, Senior Commissioner Ni Made Pujewati, stated that the case began with a victim’s report. During the investigation, investigators examined witnesses, observed recruitment, training, and shelter locations, and seized a number of supporting documents. ‘We elevated the individual’s status from witness to suspect after we assessed that the evidence was sufficient,’ Pujewati said on Monday (29/6/2026). Investigators found that the suspect recruited at least six victims. Each prospective worker was asked to pay a registration fee ranging from Rp 12.5 million to Rp 22.5 million. From this practice, the perpetrator reaped a profit of approximately Rp 95 million. ‘The victims were promised work in the agricultural sector in Japan,’ she said. To convince the victims, the perpetrator provided language training, distributed uniforms, and issued training identity cards. ‘They then moved the shelter from one location to another when the departure was repeatedly delayed,’ she said. The perpetrator is also recorded as having previously undergone legal proceedings for a similar case and is currently detained at the Mataram Class III Women’s Correctional Institution (LPP). According to her, the illegal recruitment practice carried out by the suspect has been ongoing since 2025. The first case file recorded seven victims, while the latest case contains six victims with a similar pattern. ‘The modus operandi remains the same, starting with recruitment, language training, job placement promises, then moving victims from one shelter to another. All victims are male because they were promised work in the agricultural sector in Japan,’ she revealed. Victims of the suspect’s actions are suspected to be more than those who have reported. Members of the public who feel they are victims are welcome to report. ‘We are opening the widest possible space for members of the public who feel they are victims. We have examined six victims, but they conveyed that while at the shelter, the number was more than 40 people,’ she said.