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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A woman trafficked from Indonesia into underage sex work in Australia has shared her ongoing trauma as two men await sentencing for the \u201cplanned and sophisticated\u201d scheme.<\/p>\n By day, Surya Subekti worked as a manager at Coles and doughnut store Krispy Kreme. By night, he was a key player in an international sex-trafficking ring which lured vulnerable women and girls from Indonesian slums to work in Sydney brothels.<\/p>\n The 45-year-old from Bayside in Sydney\u2019s south travelled to Indonesia and worked with local contacts to arrange fake visa documents and bring a 17-year-old girl to Australia. The documents falsely reported she was the daughter of an older woman whom she travelled to Australia with. Subekti guided the girl and her pretend mother on passing immigration smoothly.<\/p>\n During the teenager\u2019s 53 days in the country, Subekti controlled her movements and made her perform 10-12 hours of sex work, seven days a week. He said he would withhold her income until she returned to Indonesia.<\/p>\n Another syndicate member, 32-year-old bus driver Elton Valentino, was paid an annual salary of $50,000 to take the girl to three brothels almost daily.<\/p>\n In a victim impact statement read out on behalf of the woman at Downing Centre District Court on Friday, she described being happy and healthy before she came to Australia, having never experienced trauma, fear or anxiety.<\/p>\n Syndicate members had introduced her to a man named \u201cBatman\u201d, who offered her work in Australia. Hoping for financial independence and a promising future, she overcame fears of language barriers and culture-shock and accepted the offer.<\/p>\n Upon landing, she was taken into sex work. She needed permission to leave the brothels and could not do so alone.<\/p>\n \u201cI always had someone following my movements. I felt as though I was being monitored and controlled all the time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI worked long hours, and the type of work was a shock to my body\u201d.<\/p>\n The woman described the horrific moment she experienced blood loss and debilitating cramps for a month. When it became so severe she struggled walking, she was hospitalised and diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection.<\/p>\n First, she was told her wages would be withheld for a month. Then she learned she would not get paid while she was in the country. She \u201caccepted\u201d this as she did not understand local laws.<\/p>\n One brothel was raided while she was there, something she described as \u201cfrightening \u2026 chaotic and stressful\u201d. She began experiencing panic attacks and emotional instability. Now, she said, \u201cthe tiniest things\u201d evoked anger or sadness.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is now difficult for me to trust other people, as I am fearful my experiences will be repeated,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI can no longer feel what it is like to be happy. I feel that all the hopes that I once held have been destroyed\u201d.<\/p>\n Subekti and Valentino were arrested under Operation Mirani, an AFP-led investigation formed in December 2022 in response to intelligence alleging foreign nationals were arriving in Australia and being forced into sexual servitude.<\/p>\n In July 2024, Subekti became the first Australian charged under Mirani.<\/p>\n The Crown submitted Subekti executed a planned and sophisticated scheme aimed at exploitation.<\/p>\n![\"Surya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5645e892b8161ccc06ee4c9f44a61d06bc7bdf0b.jpeg\")
Surya Subekti (left) outside the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney in 2024.AAPIMAGE<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bf938a83cab1a4c1a934527ccaadbbe097ae3a1d.jpeg\")
A passport of Surya Subekti\u2019s victim which was seized by police.AFP<\/p>\n![\"Surya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1565b213e48c3e09544eef70b2111343590dc4b3.jpeg\")
Surya Subekti is arrested by the Australian Federal PoliceAFP<\/p>\n
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