Major Scamming Syndicate Exposed; Polri Team Depart to Philippines

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian National Police, or Polri is set to mobilize an examination and repatriation team to the Philippines in handling the international scamming syndicate involving a plethora of multinational actors, which include Indonesians who committed human trafficking.

Police spokesperson Inspector General Sandi Nugroho on Tuesday said the team consists of the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim), the Intelligence and Security Agency (Baintelkam), and the International Relations Division of the National Police.

“The examiners and repatriation team of problematic Indonesians residing in Pampanga, Philippines, will depart on Tuesday,” said Nugroho in a written statement on May 8.

This team will be accompanied by the police attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Manila and will directly coordinate its efforts with the Philippine National Police (PNP). The involvement of possibly more Indonesian actors will be investigated deeper.

This comes after the two national police institutions from the two countries managed to expose a major international scamming syndicate based in the Philippines. According to initial reports, this huge effort involves at least one thousand suspects from around the world. 

Out of the 154 Indonesian nationals who are under custody of local authorities, nine of them have been named as witnesses while two others were deemed as suspects of the scamming syndicate. 

EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA

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