BANDUNG - Bandung District Court convicted and jailed 19 people on July 21 for their roles in an infant-trafficking network linked to Indonesia and Singapore.
The defendants — 18 women and one man — received prison terms ranging from three years and four months to seven years, according to a CNA Indonesia sentencing report. Lie Siu Luan, 70, also known as Lily or Popo, received the longest sentence after the court identified her as the network’s leader.
Other defendants received terms of six years and seven months for recruitment or document-related roles, while participants judged to have played lesser roles were sentenced to three years and four months. Prosecutors had sought terms of five to 10 years, depending on each defendant’s role.
Presiding judge Gatot Ardian Agustriono said Lie had been legally proven guilty of “recruiting, harbouring, sending, transferring or receiving a person ... for the purpose of exploiting said person.” An RRI report on the verdict said the court ordered the defendants to remain in custody.
Prosecutors said members of the network searched social media and online adoption groups for parents willing to surrender their babies. Recruiters allegedly offered the parents between 9 million and 15 million rupiah. Some parents believed the defendants would adopt the children and that they would be able to maintain contact with them, according to the prosecution.
Court records reviewed by CNA said members falsified birth certificates and listed defendants as biological parents or guardians. The documents were then used to secure identification papers, passports and paperwork for overseas adoptions.
The court heard that the network trafficked at least 34 infants. Lie admitted during the trial that at least 12 babies were sent to Singapore and said she received between S$17,000 and S$21,600 for each child, according to court records obtained by CNA.
The investigation followed a July 2025 report from West Java resident Dani Hidayat, who said he had been offered money for his expected child after joining a Facebook adoption group. Police later detained suspects during operations in Bandung, Jakarta and Pontianak, where infants were allegedly being kept in safe houses before transfer.
In a January government statement, Singapore said its police were assisting the Indonesian National Police. Social-service and immigration officials were also contacting affected adoptive parents, and the investigation had delayed some citizenship applications while authorities examined the children’s circumstances.
“We are keenly aware of the anxiety that this situation has caused to the adoptive parents, and are working closely across the relevant authorities to ensure that the cases are dealt with as expeditiously as we can,” Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs says.
