Kepri Police Names 2 Suspects in 77 Ton Meat Smuggling Case

The North Sumatra Regional Police released the disclosure of the case of smuggling frozen meat weighing 70 tons at the North Sumatra Regional Police, Batam City, Thursday (26/2/2026). (ANTARA/Laily Rahmawaty)

BATAM - Investigators from Subdit I IDitreskrimsus of the Riau Islands Regional Police (Polda Kepri) have named two suspects in the case of illegal smuggling of frozen meat from Singapore with a weight of around 77 tons or almost 80 tons.

"The two suspects have initials LS and H," said Head of Sub-Section I of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the North Sumatra Police, AKBP Paksi Eka Saputra, as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, February 26.

The role of the two suspects is LS as the owner of the ship and the smuggled goods. While H is the captain of the KM Sukses Abadi 02 GT 121 ship.

The determination of the suspect was made after investigators examined witnesses and experts from the Quarantine and trade experts related to the case.

The police emphasized that the actions of the perpetrators caused losses to the state in the form of disruption of the economy and domestic MSMEs.

"The suspects violated the animal trade and quarantine laws," he said.

The modus operandi of the perpetrators is to bring the KM Sukses Abadi ship from the PT Emas Moro Port, Karimun to Singapore for fish exports.

Upon returning from Singapore, the ship loaded non-new goods and frozen meat consisting of beef, chicken meat and pork with various brands.

The amount of meat reached 5,037 boxes, or a weight of around 77 tons or almost 80 tons.

"After the ship departed from Singapore and was in the process of entering Indonesian waters, they (the suspects) turned off the AIS of their ship, with the aim of not detecting its whereabouts," said Paksi.

Investigators then hunted down the whereabouts of the two ships, namely KM Sukses Abadi 02 and KM Sukses Raya in Moro District. And brought to Batam for evidence.

In addition to meat, the ship contained mixed used goods, such as clothes, dolls, cooking utensils, drums, computer monitors, and televisions, as well as many others.

"The frozen meat carried by the suspect was not accompanied by a certificate, so it violated the quarantine and trade regulations," said Paksi.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Priangan Karantian Law Enforcement Team, Wasis, said that the frozen meat cargo carried by the suspect was not accompanied by a certificate from the country of origin, so that the quality of the meat was not guaranteed, it was feared that the disease would spread.

In addition, beef, chicken and pork that are brought without being separated, are feared to be unhealthy, so it will be detrimental to the community if consumed.

The two suspects were charged with Article 111 about Other Used Goods of the Trade Law, Article 112 about Used Goods, and Law Number 21 of 20019 concerning Quarantine Article 86 letter a in conjunction with Article 33 paragraph 1 letter a.

The article explains that anyone entering a carrier of meat without a certificate of origin, faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, a fine of Rp. 5 billion and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of Rp. 10 billion.