Member of Commission XIII of the DPR Mafirion highlighted the scandal of a love scam syndicate worth Rp. 1.4 billion that was uncovered at the Kotabumi Class IIB Prison, North Lampung. He urged the dismissal of five prison officers who were suspected of being the brains and facilitators of the crime.
Mafirion assessed that the involvement of officers who helped 137 prisoners carry out fraudulent actions from behind bars was a form of betrayal of authority. Moreover, due to weak supervision, this syndicate managed to reap losses from hundreds of victims with a value of up to Rp. 1.4 billion.
"Officers who should maintain security are allegedly part of the perpetrators of the crime. This is very serious and undermines public trust. There is no compromise, the officers involved must be fired and prosecuted with heavy law to provide a deterrent effect!" Mafirion told reporters, Tuesday, May 12.
The case was revealed by the discovery of 156 mobile phones in the hands of the prisoners. Mafirion then highlighted how easy it was for prohibited items to enter the prison, indicating that there were security gaps that were deliberately opened by certain officers.
From the results of the Lampung Police's examination of 145 detainees, as many as 137 people were strongly suspected of being involved in this online gambling network.
"The detention center should be a place of education, not a center of crime control. The state should not be defeated by dirty practices like this. The escape of hundreds of cellphones shows that internal surveillance functions are completely paralyzed," said Mafirion.
Mafirion asked the Ministry of Immigration and Correction not to stop at the Kotabumi Detention Center. He suspected that a similar pattern might occur in other prisons or detention centers with a wider network.
Mafirion also demanded transparency to reveal whether there was involvement of officials with higher authorities behind this syndicate.
"Don't let the investigation stop at one case. We ask for a thorough examination in various prisons and detention centers to ensure that there is no similar network operating. The legal process must be transparent, no one should be covered up," he concluded.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
