West Bangka Police Station Names 5 Suspects in Illegal Copper Smuggling to Malaysia

BANGKA BARAT - The West Bangka Police, the Bangka Belitung Islands Police, have named five suspects in the case of smuggling tin ore to Johor, Malaysia.

"The disclosure of this case began with the arrest of three perpetrators by the West Bangka Police Satpolair team on Enjel Beach, Air Putih, Mentok, on Thursday (26/2) at around 01.00 WIB," said West Bangka Police Chief AKBP Pradana Aditya Nugraha as reported by ANTARA, Monday, March 2.

At that time, officers arrested three perpetrators who had finished transporting tin ore from land to a "ghost ship" (a term for an illegal ship with a very large high-speed engine) that was waiting in the middle of the sea.

From the results of the examination and development, officers named five people as suspects, they are IW (47) residents of Mentok (acting as a truck driver), AL (34) domiciled in Rambat Village, Simpang Teritip (laborer and boat driver), HR (50) domiciled in Air Samak, Mentok (truck driver), AM (50) domiciled in Pangkalpinang (coordinator) and AH (35) residents of Skip Pal-2, Mentok (owner of tin ore and organizer of mobilization activities).

Based on the information from the perpetrators, he said, the smuggling activities they carried out twice, the first on February 15, 2026, a total of 4.8 tons of lead ore (worth around IDR 1.58 billion) and the second shipment on February 25, 2026, 6.4 tons (worth IDR 2.11 billion).

"This activity has been carried out twice with a total of 11.2 tons of tin ore that have been successfully sent to Malaysia," he said.

According to him, the illegal practice carried out by the perpetrators, namely storing tin ore, processing raw tin sand in the warehouse, then packing it in plastic bags and sacks to be transported using trucks to the coast of Enjel Beach, Mentok.

Furthermore, tin sand is reported using a torpedo boat to the middle of the sea and transferred to a fast boat or ghost boat that has been ordered to be taken to Johor, Malaysia.

"This action clearly has a negative impact on the country and damages the legitimate mining governance," he said.

The five suspects were charged with Article 161 in conjunction with Article 35 of Law Number 3 of 2020 concerning Mineral and Coal Mining, together with Articles 20 and 21 of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to IDR 100 billion.

In this case, a number of evidence has been seized by officers, including two trucks, two spear boats, one fast boat, tin sand processing equipment, a number of documents and electronic devices supporting illegal activities.

"We are strongly committed to continuing to investigate the illegal tin sand distribution network and channels, including the possibility of the involvement of other parties in this smuggling network," he said.