INDONESIA (TR) – Several Japanese nationals have been detained here for their suspected involvement in a special fraud syndicate after authorities rescued two Japanese women believed to be victims of human trafficking, reports TBS News (May 11).
The raid on the scam base, located in Indonesia’s second-largest city of Surabaya, was triggered by a desperate report from the family of one of the trafficked women.
According to investigators, the two female victims were originally promised jobs working at a KTV (karaoke club) in Thailand. Instead, they were smuggled into Indonesia and coerced into carrying out telecommunications scams.
“I intended to work at a KTV, but I also wanted to do some sightseeing,” one of the rescued women revealed. “I was put into a car and forcibly brought here. They took my passport and told me, ‘You can’t go home anymore.'”
After receiving an urgent plea from the woman’s family, the local Japanese Consulate General requested Indonesian authorities to step in and secure the women’s safety, leading to the successful dismantling of the operation.
During the raid conducted last month, local police detained more than 40 foreign nationals, including four other Japanese suspects.
Investigators seized fake Japanese police uniforms and police posters from the facility, strongly suggesting the overseas syndicate was orchestrating a tokushu sagi (specialized fraud) scheme targeting victims back in Japan.
