Indonesia police arrest 9 in Medan baby trafficking case linked to social media

South China Morning PostCenter-RightEN 1 min read 100% complete by SCMP’s Asia deskJanuary 21, 2026 at 11:57 AM

AI Summary

short article 1 min

Indonesian police in Medan have arrested nine individuals involved in a baby trafficking ring that operated through social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok. The arrests followed a police raid on a rented house after neighbors reported suspicious activity involving pregnant women. Authorities believe the suspects had already sold at least two babies for between 9 million and 25 million rupiah each and were preparing to sell a third. The syndicate is described as well-organized, marketing babies through social media groups. Police are currently searching for three additional suspects connected to the case.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

The Jakarta Post 50% Facebook 60% TikTok 60% Medan ×270% Indonesian Police 80% Jean Calvijn Simanjuntak ×280% Indonesia 90%

Keywords

baby trafficking 100% social media 80% medan 70% police arrest 60% newborns 60% illegal adoption 50% tiktok 40% facebook 40% crime 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Very Negative

Score: -0.70

Source Transparency

Source

South China Morning Post

Political Lean

Center-Right (0.50)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

85%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

No topic relationship data available yet. This graph will appear once topic relationships have been computed.

baby trafficking social media medan police arrest newborns illegal adoption tiktok facebook crime

Explore Full Topic Graph