Director General Of Customs And Excise: Illegal Imported Used Clothing Entering Indonesia Are From Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam And Thailand

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Director General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance Askolani said that illegally imported used clothing that entered Indonesia came from Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

"When asked about income, usually from Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam or Thailand, that is one of the entry points," said Askolani during the destruction of imported used clothes in Cikarang, West Java, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, March 29.

The used clothes enter through several points, namely Batam, Lampung, Medan to large ports such as Tanjung Priok.

According to Askolani, the smugglers falsified information.

"That is possible, they put it in a container by making a manifest that does not comply with the provisions. Then he stated that this was not a ballpress (solid sack containing used clothes)," he said.

Askolani said that the smuggling of imported used clothes was mostly done through small routes or small routes. However, Customs and Excise do not have the authority to take action against the perpetrators.

The rat route is not within the authority of Customs and Excise, it is of course coordination with the Transportation Ministry (Ministry of Transportation) and the Regional Government (Regional Government).

"We're only monitoring goods, but if it's port, we've actually communicated with Transportation about how many rat routes are in the regions, that's part of the regional government that has authority," said Askolani.

Askolani emphasized that for the last four years, his party has consistently prevented the entry of illegal goods smuggling worth tens of billions.

He also mentioned that the catch would continue to be carried out for years to come.

Destroying 7,363 bales of used clothing from illegal imports or a value of IDR 80 billion in Cikarang, West Java, Tuesday (28/3).

These items were confiscated from a joint Customs and Excise team in collaboration with the Indonesian National Police's Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim Polri) through an operation carried out on March 20-25 2023.

Operations were carried out in several strategic locations, such as access to the areas of Jakarta, Banten, and West Java, as well as several warehouses indicated as ballpress stockpiling locations.

The catch of used clothes was also obtained from intelligence data and involved all government institutions.