Kepri Police Sikat Network of Lobster Seed Smugglers to Vietnam, Two Perpetrators Arrested

Lobster seeds (Photo: dok. Antara)

BATAM - The Special Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Riau Islands Police thwarted the smuggling of 122,445 illegal lobster white seed (BBL) worth Rp10 billion in the Mega Legenda area, Batam. Two members of the transnational smuggling network, initials DS as a field controller and SS as a courier, were immediately arrested by officers.

This action of failure breaks the supply chain of smuggling marine commodities which are planned to be sent to Vietnam through the Singapore transit route.

Head of Public Relations of the North Sumatra Regional Police, Police Commissioner General Nona Pricillia Ohei, emphasized that this firm action succeeded in saving Indonesia's marine resources from illegal exploitation for personal gain.

"There are approximately 100 thousand lobster seeds brought by the alleged perpetrators. DS played a role in ordering to pick up the goods and SS as the BBL courier. The state's losses are estimated at Rp. 10 billion," said Nona, quoted from ANTARA, Thursday, May 21, 2026.

The Director of Special Criminal Investigation of the North Sumatra Police, Commissioner General of Police Silvester Simamora, explained that the arrest was made after a joint team followed the perpetrator's vehicle carrying a suitcase containing BBL from the Hang Nadim International Airport. To deceive the officers' scans, the perpetrator falsified the contents of the suitcase with an old cloth.

"The mode of the suitcase is only filled with four bags of lobster seeds, while the other part is filled with old cloth. The courier at the airport was promised a wage of Rp. 2.5 million per suitcase, while the pick-up organizer received a reward of Rp. 10 million," said Silvester.

Currently, investigators from the Kepri Police's Criminal Investigation Unit are still tracking the intellectual actors who supply funds and the main owner of hundreds of thousands of lobster seeds. The two suspects who were arrested are now charged with the Animal, Fish, and Plant Quarantine Law with a threat of two years in prison and a fine of Rp. 2 billion.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Batam Marine Aquaculture Center (BPBL), Ipong Adi Guna, stated that all the confiscated evidence, dominated by sand lobsters, had been immediately released in the waters of Galang Baru in order to maintain the survival of marine life.

"The results of the counting are 122,445 heads. A total of 1,000 heads were set aside as evidence, the rest were released. The best decision is to release them so that they can return to being an Indonesian natural resource," said Ipong.