Papua New Guinea police say they found 39 Indonesian nationals locked inside a three-bedroom house in downtown Port Moresby, allegedly forced to sit at computers in the living room and run online scams for the people who had brought them into the country. Officers freed the group — five women and 34 men, according to the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) — on Tuesday morning and detained four Chinese nationals, with charges being prepared.
The RPNGC, the country’s national police force, has described it as an alleged international human trafficking operation, and says the people detained may be part of a syndicate reaching from Southeast Asia into the Pacific. The details come from reports by RNZ and the ABC. No charges had been laid at the time both outlets published.
Key facts
- A police spokesperson told the ABC that early investigations suggested the alleged victims were locked inside the house and forced to operate an online scam using computers in the living room.
- Police executed search warrants at a three-bedroom property in downtown Port Moresby on Tuesday morning, RNZ reported.
- RNZ, citing the RPNGC, says officers found five women and 34 men confined inside. The ABC describes the group as 39 men and women from Indonesia.
- Four Chinese nationals have been detained while police prepare a range of serious charges, according to RNZ.
- Both outlets report police allege the Indonesians were recruited through social media with false offers of employment, and had been in Papua New Guinea for about a month.
- Deputy Police Commissioner Donald Yamasombi said initial inquiries indicate those detained may be connected to a wider transnational human trafficking syndicate operating between Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Why this matters in the Pacific
The most distinctive fact in this case is not the raid itself but what police say was happening inside the house. A residential property in a Pacific capital, fitted out with computers and staffed by foreign nationals who allegedly could not leave, is the signature of the scam-compound model that has taken root in parts of mainland Southeast Asia over the past five years — and it is that model, rather than the raid, that regional agencies have been warning about.
Yamasombi, the deputy commissioner for special operations, said the alleged syndicate spans Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and that PNG police would work closely with international policing partners to identify and dismantle any offshore components of the network, RNZ reported. That is the honest scope of the case as police have described it: a Southeast Asian recruitment pipeline, a Pacific host country, and unidentified offshore controllers.
For readers elsewhere in the Pacific, the relevance is structural rather than direct. Small jurisdictions with visa-on-arrival or light-touch entry arrangements, cheap residential rentals and improving internet capacity are exactly the conditions these operations look for, and the same qualities have already drawn other forms of organised crime into the region — including the trafficking flows behind warnings about organised crime moving through the Pacific. Nothing in the RNZ or ABC reporting extends this particular investigation beyond Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Inside the raid
According to RNZ, the warrants were executed on the strength of intelligence developed by the RPNGC Transnational Crime Directorate, and the 39 people were located confined inside the residence. Police say the group was held against its will as part of what the RPNGC called a complex people-smuggling enterprise.
The ABC reported that detectives found the Indonesians allegedly being held against their will and that the group had been in the country for about a month. “They said they were not allowed to leave the house, they were all wired inside and just worked,” a police spokesperson told the ABC.
The two accounts differ only on the breakdown of those rescued: RNZ gives a specific split of five women and 34 men, while the ABC refers to 39 men and women without a split. On every other material point — the location, the date, the number 39, the four detentions, the social media recruitment and the false job offers — the two reports align.
What police allege, and what has not been tested
Police allege the recruitment was done through social media using false job offers, after which the group was confined. The forced-scamming element comes from the ABC’s account, which attributes it to early investigations by police rather than to any court finding or charge sheet.
No charges had been laid at the time of the reports. Yamasombi said police were preparing to lay charges, and RNZ reported that the four Chinese nationals were detained while a range of serious charges were prepared. Everyone detained is presumed innocent unless convicted, and neither outlet has named them or reported a court date.
The scam-compound model, by the numbers
Independent of this case, UN agencies have published figures that indicate the scale of the industry PNG police say they have encountered a node of.
In an August 2023 report, the UN Human Rights Office estimated that at least 120,000 people in Myanmar and around 100,000 in Cambodia may have been held in situations where they were forced to carry out online scams, with victims drawn from across Asia and beyond. INTERPOL assessed later that year that human trafficking-fuelled fraud had outgrown its Southeast Asian base and become a global phenomenon.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has since warned that syndicates squeezed by enforcement in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos have been relocating operations into other jurisdictions, and estimated that victims in East and Southeast Asia lost somewhere between US$18 billion and US$37 billion to such scams in 2023. Those figures are background context from published UN and INTERPOL assessments, not findings about the Port Moresby house; no agency has publicly linked this raid to a named network.
The police response
PNG Police Commissioner David Manning warned there would be no leniency for those who traffic and exploit people, RNZ reported, saying investigators would ensure every offender was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that police would seek penalties reflecting the seriousness of the crimes. He said human traffickers seek to profit from the exploitation of vulnerable people, according to the ABC.
Manning said it was deeply disturbing that such alleged crimes could occur in Papua New Guinea, while commending the RPNGC investigators who located the victims and brought them to safety, RNZ reported. He said investigators are tracing the movements and connections of the alleged traffickers, including members of the network operating both within Papua New Guinea and overseas, and that the safety, welfare and dignity of the 39 are the immediate priority, with consular support being arranged through the Indonesian embassy.
Is there a Fiji link?
No. Neither RNZ nor the ABC reported any Fiji connection to the Port Moresby raid, no Fijian nationals were among those freed or detained on the reported accounts, and no Fiji agency has commented publicly on the case.
What the case does feed into is the broader argument Fiji is already having about how much external policing and security help the country should accept and on what terms — the same argument running through the debate in Fiji over new security arrangements with Australia. PNG’s response here leaned on a specialist transnational crime directorate and on cooperation with overseas partners to chase the offshore end of the alleged network, which is precisely the capability question at issue in that debate.
What happens next
Yamasombi said the outcome marked an important success against the serious threat of transnational crime, according to RNZ. He added that PNG police would support international efforts to trace the offshore parts of the alleged network, and told the ABC that police were preparing to lay charges and that more arrests were likely.
What we still don’t know
Neither source reports how many charges will ultimately be laid or under which PNG laws, when the four detained men will appear in court, how the group entered Papua New Guinea or on what visas, who the alleged scams targeted, or where the 39 Indonesians will be housed while the investigation continues. Fiji News will report further developments as PNG police, the Indonesian embassy and any regional agencies release more detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
What were the 39 Indonesians allegedly forced to do?
A police spokesperson told the ABC that early investigations suggested the alleged victims were locked inside a downtown Port Moresby house and made to run an online scam operation using computers set up in the living room. “They said they were not allowed to leave the house, they were all wired inside and just worked,” the spokesperson said. Police say the group was recruited on social media with false job offers. None of this has been tested in court.
What support are the 39 Indonesians receiving now?
Police Commissioner David Manning said the safety, welfare and dignity of the victims are the immediate priority and that the PNG government is working with the Indonesian embassy to provide consular support, according to RNZ. The ABC reported that the Indonesian embassy in Papua New Guinea said it was supporting the alleged victims. Neither outlet said where the group would be housed during the investigation.
Are more arrests expected?
Yes. Manning said investigators are tracing the movements and connections of the alleged traffickers, including network members inside Papua New Guinea and overseas, and that police expect this work to lead to further arrests, RNZ reported. Deputy Commissioner Donald Yamasombi told the ABC police were preparing to lay charges and that more arrests were likely.
How long had the group been in Papua New Guinea?
Police told the ABC the Indonesian nationals had been in Papua New Guinea for about a month after being recruited on social media. Police described the arrangement as part of what the constabulary called a complex people-smuggling enterprise.
Which police unit uncovered the operation?
RNZ reported that the search warrants were executed on the basis of intelligence developed by the RPNGC Transnational Crime Directorate. Deputy Police Commissioner for Special Operations Donald Yamasombi led the operation.
How big is the forced-scamming problem in the region?
The UN Human Rights Office estimated in an August 2023 report that at least 120,000 people in Myanmar and around 100,000 in Cambodia may have been held in conditions where they were forced to carry out online scams. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has since warned that the syndicates running those compounds are pushing operations beyond Southeast Asia, and estimated that victims in East and Southeast Asia lost between US$18 billion and US$37 billion to such scams in 2023.
Is there any reported Fiji connection to this case?
No. Neither RNZ nor the ABC reported any Fiji link to the Port Moresby raid, and no Fiji agency has commented publicly on the case. The relevance for Fiji readers is regional: the deputy police commissioner said the alleged syndicate spans Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and UN agencies have warned that the scam-compound business model is spreading into new jurisdictions.
