October 1, 2025 | 07:43 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Criminal Investigation Unit of the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police, Jakarta, Indonesia, has foiled the departure of dozens of illegal Indonesian migrant workers (IMWs) bound for the Middle East. The operation is suspected to be linked to an international human trafficking network.
Police arrested two suspects, identified by the initials E and H, and are pursuing a foreign national believed to have financed the scheme. “We found indications of a foreign national acting as the financier in this illegal IMW shipment,” said Commissioner Yandri Mono, Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, on Wednesday, October 1, 2025.
Yandri noted that investigators suspect an international syndicate is behind the operation, with evidence suggesting the foreign financier was offering jobs in the Middle East. However, police have not disclosed the individual’s identity. “We are still investigating and developing information from the suspects, including the role of the foreign national,” Yandri added.
According to police, the suspects earned between Rp1 million and Rp2 million for each worker they sent abroad. The workers were trafficked using tourist visas to disguise their departure.
The case came to light after investigators intercepted a group of eight IMWs attempting to leave for Saudi Arabia on September 1, 2025. The group initially flew with TransNusa flight 8B 673 from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur, before continuing on IndiGo flights to Bengaluru, India, and later to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
They were stopped at Soekarno-Hatta’s Terminal 3 and taken in for questioning, leading to the arrest of E and H in Cipayung, East Jakarta, on September 3.
From January to September 2025 alone, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police have intercepted 645 illegal migrant workers. Cambodia was the most common destination with 270 workers, followed by Malaysia with 112, while others were bound for Middle Eastern countries.
Editor’s Choice: ICW Reports Indonesia's 2024 Corruption Case Handling Lowest in Past 5 Years
Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
Jakarta Court Delays Student's Riot Lawsuit as President, Police Chief Absent
1 jam lalu
Jakarta District Court postponed the trial over the August 2025 riot lawsuit after the defendants and their lawyers failed to appear on Wednesday.
ICW Reports Indonesia's 2024 Corruption Case Handling Lowest in Past 5 Years
7 jam lalu
ICW reveals that in 2023, law enforcement revealed 791 corruption cases and 1,695 suspects.
Jakarta Police Explain Prolonged Detention of Activists over August Protests
1 hari lalu
Jakarta Metro Police have held activist Delpedro Marhaen and others for almost a month on allegations of inciting August 2025 demonstrations.
Jakarta Police Seize Over One Ton of Drugs Worth $70 Million
1 hari lalu
Jakarta Police seized 1.14 tons of narcotics between July and September 2025 and arrested thousands of suspects.
The Vanishing Promise to Investigate the Violence
1 hari lalu
President Prabowo's pledge to form a fact-finding team to investigate the August-September 2025 riots fizzled out. The probe hit a brick wall.
Indonesia's YLBHI: Police Extorted Detainees During August-September Riots
2 hari lalu
According to YLBHI, Indonesian police members allegedly extorted demonstrators who were arrested in Makassar, Bogor, and Jakarta.
YLBHI Alleges Police Tortured Protesters for Anarchism Confessions
2 hari lalu
YLBHI revealed that the majority of victims of police violence were children.
Police Seize Books During Arrest of Kamisan Activist in Yogyakarta
2 hari lalu
The East Java Regional Police arrested an activist from the Kamisan movement, Muhammad Fakhrurrozi, also known as Paul, in Yogyakarta.
Police Reform Must Not Be Half-Hearted
2 hari lalu
The National Police went ahead and established a reform team similar to that already proposed by the Presidential Palace.
Today's Top 3 News: Experts Identify Salmonella and Bacillus Cereus in Free Nutritious Meal Poisoning Probe
3 hari lalu
Here is the list of the top 3 news on Tempo English today.
