JAKARTA: A court in Indonesia convicted 19 members of a baby-trafficking syndicate on Tuesday after they were found guilty of selling dozens of children under the guise of adoption across the country and to Singapore. At least 34 Indonesian babies were sold by the trafficking ring between 2023 and 2024. Its members were arrested last year, following a report of a baby kidnapping in Indonesia’s West Java province.

19 people were accused of buying and selling babies for illegal adoption

The 19 defendants were convicted of selling at least 34 babies between 2022 and 2025, some of whom were taken to Singapore and sold for thousands of dollars for each child.