Damaged Domestic Market, Riau Islands Police Warn Residents Not To Sell Unofficial Cellphones From Overseas

Police officers during the arrest of the IMEI jockey in Batam (ANTARA/HO-Ditreskrimsus Polda Kepri)

RIAU - The Riau Islands Police appealed to the public not to trade smartphones unofficially from abroad because they damaged the domestic market. The Director of Criminal Investigation at the Riau Islands Police, Kombes Nasriadi, said the appeal was related to the arrest of the iPhone smartphone trade by registering the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), at the Batam Center Port on April 19, 2023. "We urge the public not to trade cellphones unofficially in the Batam area, it could damage the market here. We have arrested one suspect in this case, not to mention it again," he said in Batam, Riau Islands, Antara, Tuesday, May 2. His party managed to thwart the unofficial practice of smartphone trading from abroad by avoiding blocking IMEI at the Batam Center International Port, Batam City. The suspect is known to have brought dozens of smartphones from Singapore using the IMEI jockey so that they could be registered in the Indonesian government database. This action, he also said, responded to public complaints while queuing for a long time during the IMEI examination by Customs and Excise at the arrival of the International Port. "Officers found the fact that several ship passengers from Singapore and Malaysia registered an IMEI mobile phone with two to three units per passenger. Initially, officers arrested a man and a husband and wife for carrying more than one cell phone," said Nasriadi. He said the passengers who were secured claimed to be ordered by the suspect with the initials J who owns a telephone sales shop in Batam. After being traced, the circulation of illegal smartphones came from shops that were there and then traded them to the public. From these arrests, officers managed to secure 29 units of various types of Iphones in the suspect's shop and dozens of other IMEI-unregistered calls.

"It is strongly suspected that cellphones that have entered Batam via illegal routes in large quantities have been brought back to Singapore using jockeys to be registered with IMEI in Kominfo when entering Indonesia before being sold to consumers," he said.