In Indonesia, the police have apprehended three suspects who had plans on shipping a three-moth-old baby boy to Singapore and selling it for almost $11,000.
The Indonesian police from the Riau Islands province, acting on a tip-off, raided a house in Batam and arrested the suspects, which comprised of the baby’s father, a midwife and a broker.
According to a Strait Times report, the police also seized a documented receipt confirming the transaction of a baby for US$8,000 (S$10,742).
“Investigations are ongoing but we have found strong evidence of baby selling,” provincial police spokesman Superintendent Hartono told reporters.
The baby’s parents who happened to be Chinese were facing economic hardships, according to Superintendent Hartono, and they intended to sell the boy so they could have some money.
Meanwhile, the identity of the buyer in Singapore remains hidden. “I can’t give more details as investigations are still ongoing,” he said.
Many anti-trafficking organisations claim that this case is only the tip of the iceberg.
According to the head of the Anti-Trafficking Agency in Batam, Mr. Syamsul Rumangkang, the business of baby-selling involves an “immaculate network” of many people.
He even went so far as to say that some babies have already been sold even before they are born.
“So the pregnant woman goes to Singapore and gives birth there. The buyer, usually from the middle-class, has prepared everything,” he said.
Babies can be sold for US$5,000 to US$10,000.
“Trafficking of babies from Indonesia to other countries, including Singapore, is not new,” said the Strait Times report.
In fact, in 2013, when the police found out that a sold baby set to be shipped to Singapore, among the people apprehended were a long-time human trafficker, a midwife and brokers.
