Police in Indonesia broke up a “baby farm” where mothers were being paid between $160 to $250 (1.6 Million and 2.5 Million Indonesian Rupiah) for their babies.
The baby traffickers would search for babies through maternity wards and look for unmarried or poor mothers and offer to purchase the baby. Once the group checked on the health status of the baby, they would then obtain birth certificates and other documents from corrupt officials.
Between November and December 2012, police state that up to 12 babies were bought and sold.
Police also believe that many of the babies are sold abroad for international adoption agencies. Police discovered one baby with a legitimate passport and a $500 ticket in its name to Singapore.
(Additional trafficker prices.)
Source: Michael Bachelard, “Thousands of babies sold on Indonesian black market,” Sydney Morning Herald, May 11, 2013.
According to wildlife protection organizations, between 3,500 to 5,000 manta rays are killed each year for their gills.
A fisherman in Asia is able to make up to $40 for each Manta ray gill that he sells. The dried gills end up in China being sold for up to $2,000.
The estimated value of the illegal trade in Manta rays is between $5 Million to $10 Million a year. In areas where the Manta ray are living, the economic value of the species to the tourism industry is worth $100 Million.
In the waters off of Indonesia, the population of Manta rays has declined by 56 percent. In Sri Lanka, the population has declined by 86 percent.
Source: Damian Carrington, “Manta rays: how illegal trade eats its own lunch,” Guardian, Environment Blog, March 5, 2013.
An estimated 3.3 million people across the East Asia and Pacific region consume heroin on an annual basis. In China, an estimated 2,366,000 people used heroin in 2010, followed by Indonesia with 247,000 users, Vietnam with 155,000 heroin users, and Myanmar with 100,000 users.
In 2011, up to 65 tons of pure heroin was believed to have been consumed across the region.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that the heroin market in the region is worth $16.3 Billion.
Source: “Transnational Organized Crime in East Asia and the Pacific: A Threat Assessment,” UNODC, April 2013, Executive Summary, page vi.
The Indonesian Record Industry Association stated that at least 6 million people in Indonesia are illegally downloading music off of the Internet each day. The value of the music that is downloaded without payment is estimated to be $1.65 Million (16 Billion Indonesian Rupiah) per day.
In 2012, customers purchased 11 million CDs during the year, down from the average of 90 million CDs sold several years before.
(More music piracy statistics.)
Source: “Piracy may cost record firms $1.65m a day,” Jakarta Post, April 27, 2013.
A kilogram of cocaine that is produced in South America costs between $1,000 to $2,000. It is then smuggled across the Pacific Ocean to Bali, Indonesia, where it is sold to drug traffickers at a price between $20,000 to $90,000.
The cocaine is then sold to Australia for it is sold for $250,000.
Source: Kathryn Bonella, “The darker side of Bali: Drugs, mules and tourism,” CNN, February 25, 2013.
Police in Indonesia seized 1,161 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in 2011, a 79 percent increase from the 649 kilograms seized in 2010.
There were between 3.7 million to 4.7 million illegal drug abusers in Indonesia in 2011. Around 1.2 million , or one in three drug users, used crystal meth during the year. 950,000 people, or one in five, used ecstasy.
62 percent of all drug arrests in 2011 involved crystal meth, which continued the increase from previous years. In 2010, 53 percent of all drug arrests involved meth, and 38 percent in 2009.
Crystal meth was involved in 77 percent of all drug arrests of women in Indonesia in 2011.
(See world meth prices.)
Source: “Crystalline methamphetamine now Indonesia’s “primary illicit drugs threat”,” United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, February 20, 2013.
A study conducted in Indonesia estimates that up to 80,000 men are customers of the prostitution trade on the Indonesian island of Bali. 50 percent of the men are tourists, both domestic and foreign tourists, with the other half of customers being island residents.
30 percent of the men interviewed in the study stated that they were willing to use a condom, leading to an increase in HIV infection rate.
The study covered several red-light districts in Bali, and did not included massage parlors and karaoke bars where sex services are also offered. Thus, the total number of customers may be higher.
Source: “Sex workers’ clients reach 80,000 across Bali,” Jakarta Post, Bali Daily, January 21, 2013.
The World Wildlife Fund estimates that up to 100,000 green turtles are killed and smuggled each year in the waters of Indonesia and Australia.
The turtles are considered a delicacy among the people of Bali.
In 2012, wildlife protection officials broke up 80 smuggling attempts where green turtles were being illegally brought into the island.
Back in the late 1970s, up to 30,000 green turtles were being killed and eaten in Bali.
Source: Luh De Suriyani, “Green turtle smuggling continues,” Jakarta Post, Bali Daily, January 21, 2013.
A drug smuggler who was arrested by police in Indonesia told police that the drug traffickers were paying him $311 (3 Million Indonesian Rupiah) per trip, according to the Jakarta Post. The man was carrying $124,600 (1.2 Billion Rupiah) worth of crystal methamphetamine when he was arrested.
Crystal meth is commonly known as “shabu-shabu” in the region. High quality meth can be sold for up to $228 on the black market in Indonesia, while lower quality meth is sold for as little as $88 per gram.
Source: Ansyor Idrus, “Palembang Police seize Rp 1.2b worth of crystal meth,” Jakarta Post, January 21, 2013.
Indonesian oil company Pertamina reported that it lost up to $52 Million (500 Billion Indonesian Rupiah) to oil theft and oil smuggling in 2012. Company officials stated up between 800 to 1,100 barrels of oil was stolen from its pipeline in Sumatra each day. The amount lost to smugglers accounted for 5 percent of the energy companies daily production in the area.
In the first week of January 2013, the company reported that up to 1,500 barrels of oil was being stolen from its pipelines each day, accounting for 6.5 percent of its total output.
The company reported that it will begin the process of moving its pipelines underground to prevent oil thieves from stealing its oil.
Source: “Slippery Oil Thieves Cost Pertamina Up to Rp 500b in 2012,” Jakarta Globe, January 8, 2013.
