A victim sold a kidney in 2015 to an illegal organ trafficking ring.
Reuters reported on July 20 that Indonesian authorities have arrested 12 people, including a police officer and an immigration officer, accused of taking 122 people to Cambodia to sell their kidneys.
The suspects were charged with violating Indonesia's human trafficking laws and each faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to 600 million rupiah ($40,000) if convicted.
According to Hengki Haryadi, director of the criminal investigation unit of the Jakarta Police Force, the suspects in the above ring are accused of using social media to recruit people across Indonesia and bring them to Cambodia for kidney surgery.
Each victim was promised 135 million rupiah (VND213 million). "The victims agreed to sell their organs because they needed money. Most of them lost their jobs during the pandemic," Mr. Hengki told reporters.
Indonesia has a history of human trafficking, mainly for labor or through debt bondage. In 2019, authorities arrested eight people in the largest human trafficking bust ever, with about 1,200 victims sent abroad to work as domestic workers.
Last year, Turkish police dismantled a transnational criminal gang profiting from organ trafficking, arresting four suspects, including three foreigners from Indonesia and India.
TRT Haber reported that the gang and its “customers” arranged to have the surgery performed at a private hospital in Istanbul. Upon receiving a tip-off, police discovered that an Indonesian suspect had contacted the gang in India and agreed to sell the kidney for $37,000, of which the gang would receive $30,000 and the rest would go to the “donor.”
The gang found a victim in Indonesia and arranged for him to travel to Türkiye. They even forged a marriage certificate between the kidney seller and the transplant recipient’s brother to fool the authorities.
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