Involved In Forgery Of Food Expiration Period, Snack Traders In Mataram Become Police Suspects

A snack trader (snack) in Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara, with the initials MS (31) has become a suspect in a case of alleged forgery of the expiration date.

Head of the Mataram Police Criminal Investigation Unit (Satreskrim) Kompol I Made Yogi Purusa Utama in Mataram, explained that the alleged crime was related to the suspect's motivation to continue selling merchandise.

"So, from the conclusion of the case title, the suspect MS is suspected of deliberately changing the expiration date which is due so that his merchandise continues to sell," said Yogi, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, June 6.

As a suspect, investigators apply the suspicion of Article 62 paragraph (1) of Law Number 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection and/or Article 143 of Law Number 18 of 2012 concerning Food.

"The threat of a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. We have detained the suspect," he said.

MS's actions were revealed from the results of the investigation by the Sandubaya Police. The police confiscated more than a hundred boxes containing snacks of various brands from a house where MS was used to store merchandise.

From the active confiscation that took place on Saturday night, the police also found evidence that corroborated the suspicion that MS falsified the expiration date of his merchandise. The evidence includes tissue, markers, stamps, a bottle of pertalite, and a bottle of stamp ink.

Following up on the disclosure, the Sandubaya Police delegated the handling of the case to the Mataram Police Satreskrim.

From the results of the investigation, Yogi explained that the suspect MS bought the merchandise in the form of snacks in April 2023 from a distributor with the initials MA.

"When buying, the expiration period of snacks is valid until May 2023," he said.

Because there are leftovers that have not been sold, he said, the expired merchandise was deliberately changed by the suspect MS.

From the results of the case title, he continued, it was revealed that none of the snacks that had changed their expiration period had been sold.

"So, fortunately the Sandubaya Police quickly uncovered this case so that no items have been changed for the expiration date to be sold," he said.

In this case, his party will strengthen the evidence for determining MS as a suspect from the statement of a trade expert from the government.

"Expert information from the trade office is important to ensure whether the snack has expired or not," he said.