Police rend passport forgery network

SURABAYA: East Java Police have uncovered a passport forgery syndicate suspected of sending migrant workers abroad with false documents.

Sr. Comr. Sutarman, provincial chief of detectives, said on Tuesday that four suspects in the labor smuggling ring had been arrested following the deportation of Indonesian migrant workers from the United States.

The suspects, identified as Damanhuri, 34, Susini, 45, Agus Wandi, 30, and Nawari, 42, confessed that they had formed two separate groups, one dealing in counterfeit passports and the other finding job seekers in East Java.

The police also confiscated 71 forged passports, 11 citizenship cards, and bank transfer papers and other forged documents believed to have been used in the scams.

The police have continued the probe into the possible involvement of local immigration office officials in the crime. -- JP