Women trafficking gang uncovered

Women trafficking gang uncovered

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau

The country's top detective, Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng, said in
Batam on Wednesday that the National Police, in cooperation with
the Malaysian police, had uncovered a women trafficking
syndicate.

The syndicate, which sent Indonesian women to Malaysia to work
as prostitutes, operated from 2001 to 2003.

Erwin said the syndicate was headed by Siti Mawar Boru
Sembiring, alias Marlina, 48, Suriana, alias Nena, 21, and
Syaiful Bahri, alias Kojek, 24.

The three were arrested separately by the North Sumatra Police
on Nov. 7 and Dec. 9 last year.

According to the police investigation, assisted by the Royal
Malaysian Police (PDRM), the syndicate smuggled about 200 women
into Malaysia to work as prostitutes.

The victims, mostly between the ages of 17 and 25, were sold
to pimps in Malaysia for between RM 1,700 (US$425) and RM 3,500.

"Dossiers on the case have been handed over to the North
Sumatra Prosecutor's Office and the suspects are awaiting trial.
Human trafficking has become a transnational crime and concerted
efforts between governments must be intensified to deal with this
crime," said Erwin on the sidelines of a conference on human
trafficking at the Turi Beach Hotel in Batam.

Erwin, accompanied by Sr. Comr. Dwi Priyanto, senior liaison
officer at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, said the
syndicate was busted following a tip from the Royal Malaysian
Police.

The Malaysian police found that the perpetrators were
Indonesian citizens, as were the victims, so they swiftly
coordinated with their Indonesian counterparts.

Police investigators found that the women being smuggled into
Malaysia were from Medan in North Sumatra, Riau and several other
areas in Sumatra.

Exit points for the smuggled women were the ports of Belawan,
Batam, Tanjung Pinang, Dumai and Tanjung Balai Karimun.

"According to their confessions, they (the suspects) only
smuggled about 50 women, but according to our investigation we
are sure the number of women smuggled into Malaysia was at least
200 since the operation began," said Dwi Priyanto.

Meanwhile, Mark D. Clark, first secretary at the U.S. Embassy
in Indonesia, said his government had given $2 million in aid to
the Indonesia government this year to fight women trafficking.

The aid was in the form of technical assistance.