An Indonesian court has sentenced a 70-year-old woman to seven years in prison after convicting her of running an international baby trafficking network that operated across Indonesia and Singapore.
Lie Siu Luan, who directed a 19-member criminal syndicate, was found guilty of human trafficking offences committed for the purpose of exploitation.
Presiding Judge Gatot Ardian Agustriono delivered the verdict, handing down a term shorter than the 10-year sentence requested by public prosecutors.
Court documents showed that Lie had previously admitted to sending at least a dozen infants to clients in Singapore.
The indictment detailed how she trafficked a newborn to Singapore for illegal adoption in 2022, earning roughly S$17,000 from the transaction.
A second defendant in the case, Astri Fitrinika, was convicted on similar charges and received a prison sentence of six years and seven months.
Law enforcement agencies moved against the group last year after a distressed parent reported a child abduction to officers in West Java province.
Police launched a series of raids and rescued several infants held by the network before they could be transferred to buyers.
Investigators discovered that children rejected by prospective buyers in Singapore were resold locally, including to adoptive parents in the capital, Jakarta.
Human trafficking remains a major concern for law enforcement across Indonesia, an archipelago spanning more than 17,000 islands.
The problem was highlighted in 2022 when authorities discovered 57 people confined inside cages on a palm oil plantation in North Sumatra province.
