The Port Moresby trafficking case is a warning about transnational crime

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By Bernard Yegiora

Part 1 of a three-part series on language, intelligence and PNG’s security capacity

The police operation in Port Moresby last week should command our attention beyond the immediate arrests. According to ABC News, officers found 39 Indonesian nationals allegedly confined in a house and forced to operate an online scam. Police detained four Chinese nationals suspected of involvement. Investigations and any criminal proceedings must establish what happened and who is responsible.

Police in Port Moresby with people found during an investigation into an alleged human trafficking operation. The 39 Indonesian nationals were reportedly held against their will. Screenshot: ABC News; photograph supplied to ABC by the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary.

The first priority is the safety and dignity of the Indonesians. They need access to appropriate protection, interpretation and consular assistance. They may also hold evidence that helps investigators establish how they were recruited, transported, housed and controlled. Police will need to determine who financed and directed the alleged operation, whether others assisted it, and whether it was connected to activity elsewhere in PNG or overseas.

The reported combination of deceptive recruitment, confinement and online fraud has a regional context. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has documented trafficking for forced criminal activity in Southeast Asian scam operations. That pattern gives PNG investigators a reason to examine possible regional links. It does not establish that the Port Moresby case belongs to any particular network. The evidence must determine that.

The raid demonstrates that the RPNGC can identify and disrupt a suspected operation. The harder task may be tracing the full network: recruitment through social media, movement across borders, financial transactions, digital activity and the people who gave instructions. This work calls for cooperation among police, intelligence, immigration and foreign counterparts.

It also calls for language capability. The people found at the property are Indonesian, while those detained are Chinese nationals. Accurate interviews with the alleged victims will require Indonesian language support. Investigating any communications or connections involving Chinese nationals may require Mandarin expertise. Qualified interpreters, investigators and analysts each have different roles; language proficiency alone cannot replace criminal investigation skills.

We must also keep the distinction between nationality and conduct clear. The detention of four individuals is no basis for suspicion of Chinese people or businesses generally. Equally, people allegedly compelled to operate an online scam should not be presumed to have directed it. A fair investigation must distinguish those who organised and profited from the activity from those they may have exploited.

The Port Moresby case should prompt PNG to ask whether its agencies have the language skills, regional knowledge and coordination needed to investigate transnational crime from the first lead through to prosecution. A successful raid is an important beginning. Establishing the facts behind the alleged operation—and protecting the people found within it—will be the more demanding measure of success.

In Part 2, I will examine the case for dedicated China expertise within PNG’s police and national security agencies, alongside stronger Indonesian language capability.

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