Three arrested for trafficking attempt

Three arrested for trafficking attempt

JAKARTA: Police arrested three people for allegedly trying to
traffic teenaged girls from Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh
province to Malaysia, an official said on Monday.

Col. Bambang Prihadi said the arrests followed reports that
two 16-year-olds escaped from their captors three months ago as
they were being brought to Medan, North Sumatra, on their way to
Kuala Lumpur. He had no other details.

Immediately after the Dec. 26 tsunami smashed into Asian
coastlines, killing or leaving missing 216,000 people in 12
nations, international aid organizations expressed concern that
traffickers would try to exploit those orphaned by the killer
waves.

No cases were ever confirmed in Indonesia, where the crime
carries a maximum punishment of 15 years.

Achmad Sofyan, executive director of the non-governmental
Center for Study and Child Protection, said the case surrounding
the two Acehnese teens came to the attention of authorities after
the girls escaped from their captors.

One fled at the Medan Immigration office while the traffickers
were preparing her passport and the other ran away when her bus
stopped in a city in Aceh province, he said. --AP