Durian. Indonesia’s immigration office in Surabaya, East Java has uncovered a people smuggling network, trying to send foreign nationals from Indonesia to European countries and declared three suspects, including two foreign nationals.
Head of Surabaya’s immigration office Ramdhani in a press conference on Tuesday, 21 Jan. 2025 in Surabaya said the network uses Indonesia as a transit country for foreign nationals before sending to destination countries.
“In December 2024, a team from the Surabaya Immigration office has managed to thwart smuggling activity towards 17 Nepalis whom are suspected to be sent illegally to countries in Europe,” Ramdhani said.
According to Novrian, head of immigration intelligence unit at the Surabaya Immigration Office, the suspected actors behind the smuggling activities are part of a syndicate.
From the preventive action, the immigration team have found three suspected actors – B.B.B.K., a Nepali; S.K., and Indian; and L.T., an Indonesian.
B.B.B.K.’s role as a smuggler, S.K. as a facilitator and L.T. as a local contact and they are now facing law enforcement procedures. (***)
