THREE Malaysians were jailed for between four and 15 months on Friday for child trafficking.

The trio were caught at Changi Airport on Feb 7 trying to smuggle three Sri Lankan children, aged 11, 14 and 15, to London via Paris.

Shangar Shanmugam, 39, was sentenced to 15 months' jail while his sister Patmavathi Shanmugam, 31, got 10 months.

Their friend, Vigiletchimi Suparayan, 61, was jailed for four months. Shangar was promised US$1,000 (S$1,358) by a woman known to him as Naga to deliver the three children to London.

Naga made three Malaysian passports for the children at the Malaysian Immigration, bearing false names.

In turn, Shangar gave a cut of RM1,000 (S$431) to his sister, who he asked to pose as one of the children's mother.

Shangar drove into Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint with the two women and the three children and proceeded to the airport.

They each faced a maximum four-year jail term for the offence which falls under the Children and Young Persons Act.

It is not known if the three children have been sent back to their homes in Sri Lanka.