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