President Prabowo Encourages Strict Legal Action Against Smuggling of Natural Resources and Illegal Imported Products
Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto, emphasized that the government will not tolerate any form of smuggling, whether related to natural resources or illegal imported products.
He stated that in the next five years, Indonesia must seriously combat cross-border crimes that harm the country and the people.
“We must combat smuggling. There is no other choice,” President Prabowo emphasized.
He added that all of Indonesia’s natural wealth commodities must be processed domestically.
“Therefore, we must implement downstreaming. There is no bargaining about this. We will process all commodities in the Republic of Indonesia. All of them,” he said.
The President also reminded economic actors to comply with all applicable legal regulations. He emphasized that law enforcement will be one of the government’s top priorities, in line with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution.
“Everyone must obey the law. My leadership will bring a clear direction: the law is enforced for the benefit of the people,” he emphasized.
In line with this directive, the police have succeeded in uncovering a number of smuggling cases.
In Sinjai Regency, South Sulawesi, the Sinjai Police thwarted an attempt to smuggle hundreds of jerrycans of diesel fuel.
“We have secured five vehicles, three of which were pickup trucks, two of which were minibuses,” said Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of the Sinjai Police, AKP Andi Rahmatullah.
The diesel was allegedly purchased from a gas station in Bulukumba and was to be sold to an industry in Morowali, Central Sulawesi. “We are still investigating who owns the diesel and where the fuel came from. It is possible that certain individuals were involved,” he explained.
Meanwhile, at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, the Police officers succeeded in thwarting the smuggling of lobster seeds (BBL) worth Rp9.2 billion.
A total of 171,880 lobster seeds of the sand and pearl types were secured from four boxes that were planned to be sent to Batam as a transit to overseas.
“The method is to disguise lobster seeds in plastic bags filled with oxygen, then put them in suitcases, wrapped again in cardboard and cloth,” said Soetta Airport Police Chief, Senior Commissioner Ronald FC Sipayung.
Seven people have been named as suspects. They are charged with the Fisheries Law and the Quarantine Law, as well as the Job Creation Law.
These cases emphasize that law enforcement officers continue to carry out the President’s directive to protect the nation’s wealth from illegal practices that harm the country and future generations.
