An Indonesian court has convicted 19 people for their roles in a trafficking network that sold babies to buyers in Singapore. The group recruited pregnant women, arranged false documents and transported infants overseas under the guise of adoption.

Lie Siu Luan, 70, received a seven-year prison sentence for coordinating the operation. The other defendants received sentences ranging from three to six years.

Trafficking babies under the guise of adoption

Luan hired brokers who posed as the babies’ biological mothers when dealing with prospective adopters. Other members of the group recruited pregnant women, cared for the infants and added false information to official documents.

The investigation began after Dani Hidayat, a resident of West Java, reported that someone had offered to buy his baby. The person contacted him after he joined a Facebook group while looking to adopt a child.

According to People:

The babies were sold for up to $13,179 each, along with fake documents created by the trafficking group.

During the trial, Luan admitted that she had sent at least 12 babies to Singapore in 2022. She maintained that she “didn’t know it was wrong” to send babies overseas for adoption. She claimed that her Singapore-based partner had convinced her the operation was legal.

Judge Gatot Ardian Agustriono sentenced Luan to seven years in prison and said:

Lie Siu Luan has been legally proven guilty of committing the criminal act of recruiting, harbouring, sending, transferring or receiving a person… for the purpose of exploiting [the babies].

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