Surabaya. Police in East Java on Friday unraveled a human trafficking syndicate and arrested two people accused of forcing 13 women aged between 18 and 23 into prostitution.
Comr. Aziz Adriansyah, chief of the East Java Police’s vice unit, identified the two women arrested as Naning, 50, who allegedly ran a call-girl service in Pasuruan, East Java; and Nuri, 40, who allegedly found customers for Naning.
Both women were charged under the 2007 Law on Trafficking, which carries a penalty of between three and 15 years in prison and a fine of up to Rp 600 million ($66,000).
Aziz said most of the victims originated from the West Java towns of Bandung, Ciamis and Pangandaran, while the rest came from Malang and Surabaya in East Java.
“They have been forced to work as prostitutes for more than three months,” he said. Each woman, the officer added, was priced at Rp 500,000 per customer, but most of the money went to Naning and Nuri.
“In a day, each girl usually served two customers, so you can imagine how much the pimp was receiving, maybe hundreds of million of rupiah each month.”
Aziz said that although based in Pasuruan, Naning often ordered the women to serve clients in Surabaya and Malang.
The police officer said that Naning personally trafficked the victims, going to cities in West Java in search of young women looking for work.
The women, he said, were promised work as housemaids. “Once they arrived [at Naning’s brothel] the women were loaned some money. So for the girls, it was hard for them to leave because they were caught in a cycle of debt,” Aziz said.
However, he said, there were some women who became prostitutes of their own will.
After the prostitution den was raided on Friday, the police immediately conducted a health check to test for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases before returning the women to their families.
The East Java Police also contacted the families of victims from West Java.
“The families are on their way to Surabaya to pick the women up while those from Malang and Surabaya were immediately taken to their families,” Aziz said, adding that all of the victims had tested negative for STDs.
Two Women Arrested Over Indonesia Prostitution Ring | The Jakarta Globe