Police Dismantle Illegal Tin Mining In Bekasi Which Loses Rp10 Billion To The State, Foreigners Become Investors

Release of disclosure of illegal tin mining cases in Bekasi

JAKARTA - The National Police uncovered illegal mineral and coal mining practices in the Bekasi area, West Java. In this case, two people were named as suspects, one of whom was a foreign citizen (WNA).

"So far, there have been 2 suspects and we have detained them," said Head of Sub-Directorate of Gakkum Korpolairud Baharkam Polri, Kombes Donny Charles Go, to reporters, Thursday, February 6.

The foreigner named by the suspect is MJ whose initials play the role of the head of warehouse operations as well as the main financier of the tin beam production business. Meanwhile, the other is AF with the role of director of CV. Galena Alam Utama, the company that oversees these illegal activities.

The disclosure of illegal mining began with information obtained by the Korpolairud Ditpolair investigation team regarding the activity of sending tin sand from Bangka Belitung to Tanjung Priok, Jakarta.

Thus, the information was developed and other clues were obtained if the tin sand did not stop in Jakarta, but was sent to a closed warehouse on Jalan Lurah Namat, Jatirangga Village, Jatisampurna District, Bekasi City.

This bar has been operating since 2023. We found illegal activity in the form of processing and refining tin sand into tin beams, which were then sold without a permit," he said.

Following up on this information, a joint team from Sub-Directorate of Gakkum and Sub-Directorate of Intelair headed to the location on Thursday, January 16, 2025. In the warehouse, we found production equipment, tin beams ready to sell, as well as workers who were carrying out the tin smelting process.

"Securing 207 tin beam rods weighing a total of about 5.81 tons, two jars filled with tin sand, an XRF tool to measure metal levels, tin prints, CCTV devices, travel documents, and three mobile phones belonging to the suspects," he said.

Based on the results of the investigation, this illegal activity has been running five times in production, starting from 2023 to January 2025. They have sent lead beams four times abroad, allegedly to South Korea.

"If calculated from five productions, the potential loss to the state due to this illegal activity reaches around Rp. 10,038 billion," said Donny.

Currently, the deepening of other parties involved in this network, including the source of tin sand originating from Bangka Belitung, is still being carried out.

Because it does not rule out the possibility that the suspects have links to the recent disclosure of 2 tons of illegal lead in Bangka Belitung.

"We have pocketed the identity of the sender from Bangka Belitung, and we are currently hunting for the other perpetrators. We believe this is not a single case, there are other networks operating," said Donny.

In this case, the suspects were charged with Article 161 in conjunction with Article 35 paragraph (3) letters c and g, Article 104, or Article 105 of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 3 of 2020 concerning Mineral and Coal Mining. Thus, it is threatened with a maximum imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to Rp. 100 billion.