Indonesian police crack down on traffickers who sent 122 people to sell their kidneys in Cambodia

abcnews.go.com:

Indonesian police are investigating the illegal trade in human organs involving police and immigration officers who were accused of helping traffickers send 122 Indonesians to a hospital in Cambodia to sell their kidneys

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian police are investigating the illegal trade of human organs involving police and immigration officers who were accused of helping traffickers send 122 Indonesians to a hospital in Cambodia to sell their kidneys, police said Tuesday.

Indonesian authorities arrested 12 people, including a police officer and an immigration officer, on July 19, and police will continue to crack down on human smuggling syndicates conducting the illegal trade of human organs, said Hengki Haryadi, the Jakarta police director for general crimes.

He said all 122 victims, including factory workers, teachers and executives, had returned to Indonesia, and police were still searching a number of other victims whose testimony would be required by investigators.

“Most of the victims lost their jobs during the pandemic and they agreed to sell their organs because they needed money,” Haryadi said, adding that six of the victims are still under observation of doctors.

Nine of the suspects were former organ trade victims who were accused of luring people from across Indonesia through social media into having their kidneys removed in Cambodia, Haryadi said. A 10th suspect was accused of sending them to Preah Ket Mealea Hospital in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, for kidney transplant surgery.

He said the turnover of the illegal trade in human organs since 2019 by the group of suspects totaled about 24.4 billion rupiah ($1.6 million), while each victim was promised 135 million rupiah ($9,000) .

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