Ministry of Social Affairs Commends Police Anti-Human Trafficking Directorate for Dismantling Baby-Selling Syndicate, Supports Maximum Sentencing
The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) has commended the work of the National Police Directorate of Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Crimes (Direktorat Tindak Pidana PPA dan PPO) in uncovering a human trafficking syndicate operating a baby-selling operation. The ministry has expressed full support for maximum legal penalties against those responsible.
“The Ministry of Social Affairs extends its highest appreciation for the revelation of various matters related to baby trading or suspected baby trafficking. Certainly, from the Ministry of Social Affairs, we are providing full support for the law enforcement process, where to support this law enforcement, because we believe that what the National Police are doing in law enforcement is, among other things, solely for the best interests of the child,” said Agung Suhartoyo, Director of Child Rehabilitation at Kemensos, on Friday (27 February 2026).
Agung stated that Kemensos will deploy a team to assess the condition of children who became victims in this syndicate. In collaboration with National Police officials, Kemensos will focus on restoring the psychological condition of victims before determining whether they can be returned to their original families.
“Because we must also ensure that children who are victims are temporarily in our care until it is determined whether the child returns to its family or the child will be given care to a particular institution if parents or family cannot be found,” Agung explained.
Child Adoption Regulations
Kemensos also clarified procedures for child adoption in Indonesia. Agung stated that the adoption process is not actually difficult, but he called on the public to follow official channels to ensure the safety and future of the child.
Agung explained that many parties still violate regulations. However, prospective adoptive parents need only register with the Social Services Office at the district or city level.
Several main requirements that must be fulfilled include prospective adoptive parents aged between 30 and 55 years, families in good physical and mental health, either childless or with a maximum of one child, and the adopted child is recommended to have the same religion as the prospective adoptive parents.
“So here they simply need to register with the Social Services Office in their district or city for processing. The provisions and requirements are also not difficult,” Agung emphasised.
After registration, the documents will be forwarded to the Provincial Social Services Office for review by the Child Adoption Consideration Team (Tim PIPA). Following this, a home visit by social workers will be conducted to ensure the suitability of prospective adoptive parents.
“So we will then conduct a home visit by our social workers to ensure that the child can be adopted. It is not immediately handed over; during those six months it is under the supervision of our social workers,” he explained.
Baby-Selling Syndicate Dismantled by National Police
Previously, the Directorate of Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Crimes of the National Police anti-corruption unit uncovered a human trafficking case with a baby-selling modus operandi. Twelve suspects were arrested in this operation.
National Police Deputy Commander Irjen Nunung Syaifudin stated that the syndicate’s exposure was a development from the kidnapping case of four-year-old Bilqis in Makassar some time ago.
“The revelation of this case is the result of developing a previous kidnapping case in Makassar. As you may recall, it was the Bilqis baby case,” said Nunung at a press conference at National Police headquarters in South Jakarta on Wednesday (25 February).
Nunung stated that his office collaborated with the National Police’s Densus 88 Counter-Terrorism Unit to dismantle the baby trading network operating across regions in Indonesia.
On the same occasion, the Director of Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Crimes, Brigjen Pol Nurul Azizah, explained that the dozen suspects comprised two clusters: an intermediary cluster of eight people and a parents cluster of four people.
They engaged in baby-selling practices in the regions of Jakarta, Banten, Yogyakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, South Sulawesi, Jambi, Bali, East Kalimantan, and the Riau Islands and Papua.