Indonesia baby trafficking ring exposes Singapore adoption loopholes

West Java police uncovered a baby-trafficking network that moved infants into Singapore by posing as adoption cases, with each child sold for about S$20,000, or roughly US$16,000. Six infants were rescued in the bust, five of them bound for Singapore, and the ring had been operating since 2023 and had already sold at least 24 babies.

The ring sent 15 babies to Singapore, and some birth parents were paid up to 20 million rupiah, about S$1,500, for a child.

Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development were aware of the allegations and were working closely with Indonesian counterparts to review them. Singapore had been contacted after an earlier request from Indonesia's National Police in September 2025, and the ministries were in touch with affected adoptive parents. Adoptive parents of children brought from Indonesia to Singapore have faced delays in citizenship applications while the investigations continue.

The couple first saw their baby boy in a long-distance video call in August 2023, when he was two months old, and his birth mother had put him up for adoption. Ally called it "love at first sight." Authorities in both countries have not announced whether the children will remain with adoptive parents or be returned to biological parents in Indonesia. The case is in trial in Bandung District Court.