National Police Criminal Investigation Bureau Arrests 12 Suspects in Baby Trafficking Ring
The Directorate of Crimes Against Women and Children (PPA) and Human Trafficking (PPO) of the National Police Criminal Investigation Bureau (Bareskrim Polri) has arrested 12 suspects in a human trafficking case involving the illegal sale of babies across several regions of Indonesia.
“On 3 December 2025, investigators have established 12 suspects along with evidence and rescued seven babies who were victims,” said Deputy Chief of Bareskrim Polri, Inspector General Nunung Syaifuddin, at the National Police Criminal Investigation Bureau headquarters on Wednesday (25 February).
Nunung explained that the uncovering of this case represents a development from the kidnapping case of Bilqis Ramadhani (4.5 years old) in Makassar some time ago. From that case, he said, his team collaborated with the Counter-Terrorism Detachment 88 (Densus 88) of the National Police and successfully dismantled an inter-regional baby trafficking network across Indonesia.
On the same occasion, Director of the Directorate of Crimes Against Women and Children (PPA) and Human Trafficking (PPO) at Bareskrim Polri, Brigadier General Nurul Azizah explained that the dozen suspects comprised two groups: a broker group consisting of eight suspects and a parental group consisting of four persons.
The suspects from the broker group include women with initials NH, LA, EMT, ZH, H, BSN, and F, as well as a man with initials S. Meanwhile, the suspects from the parental group include women with initials CPS, DRH, and a man with initials RET who is the boyfriend of suspect EP.
From further investigation, Nurul stated that the suspects trafficked babies in the regions of Jakarta, Banten, Yogyakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, South Sulawesi, Jambi, Bali, Kalimantan, Riau Islands and Papua.
“Their modus operandi involved using social media, namely TikTok, Facebook and similar platforms. This network has been engaged in illegal baby sales since 2024 with revenue in the hundreds of millions of rupiah,” said Nurul.
In this case, police also seized several pieces of evidence, including 21 mobile phone units, 17 ATM cards, 74 documents and one baby equipment bag.
For their actions, the suspects are charged under Article 76F in conjunction with Article 83 of Law Number 35 of 2014 concerning Amendments to Law Number 23 of 2002 on Child Protection, which carries a sentence of 3 years’ imprisonment to 15 years imprisonment with a fine of 60 million rupiah to 300 million rupiah.
They are also charged under Article 6 of Law Number 21 of 2007 on Eradicating the Crime of Human Trafficking, which carries imprisonment of a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 15 years, and a fine of a minimum of 120 million rupiah and a maximum of 600 million rupiah.
Additionally, they are charged under Article 455 in conjunction with Article 20 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on Domestic Human Trafficking Crimes. This violation carries a sentence of a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 15 years imprisonment.