W China Chen Yongtong And Wu Jinge Who Used Fake Mexican Passports To Enter Indonesia Face Up To 5 Years In Prison

Two foreigners from China Chen Yongtong (34) and Wu Jinge (36) were shown by immigration officers during a press conference in Jakarta, Wednesday (24-8-2022). ANTARA/Muhammad Zulfikar

JAKARTA - The Directorate General (DG) of Immigration of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkum HAM) is legally processing two foreign nationals (WNA) from China because they were caught using fake (unregistered) Mexican passports.

"The Mexican passport used was confirmed to be fake," said the Coordinator of Immigration Investigation at the Directorate of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Hajar Aswad, as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, August 25.

The two foreigners from China are Chen Yongtong (34) and Wu Jinge (36). Both have been placed in the Class I State Detention Center in Central Jakarta since August 10, 2022 for allegedly violating Article 119 of Law Number 6 of 2011 concerning Immigration.

"Both of them face a maximum imprisonment of 5 years and a maximum fine of Rp. 500 million," he said.

Chen Yongtong and Wu Jinge entered Indonesia on January 16, 2022 using Mexican passports with a visit visa for business. The sponsor of the two foreigners is PT Gunung Agung Contractor.

The officer's suspicions arose when Wu Jinge took care of the extension of the visit stay permit (ITK) at the Immigration Office Class I TPI East Jakarta on April 12, 2022. He was represented by a Chinese translator at a travel agency.

Upon this suspicion, the officer summoned Wu Jinge to the immigration office for further examination. After being checked by officers at the East Jakarta Immigration Office, it was found that the name

Chen Yongtong because both of them entered Indonesia at the same time.

"We also confirmed this through data on the second crossing from the Immigration Management Information System," he said.

Next, officers came to Chen Yongtong at his apartment in the Taman Sari area, West Jakarta. At that time, Chen Yongtong could not show his Mexican passport.

According to Aswad, the fake passport was discovered based on confirmation from the Mexican Embassy which stated that the passport was not registered.

Finally, both are subject to the same article, namely Article 119 of Law Number 6 of 2011 concerning Immigration but with different paragraphs. Wu Jinge was charged with Article 119 paragraph (2), while Chen Yongtong paragraph (1) was subject to the same criminal sanction.

The two foreigners from China claimed to have had Mexican passports since 2019 even though they were foreigners from China based on confirmation from the Embassy of the People's Republic of China.

The two officers admitted that the processing of Mexican passports was carried out through an intermediary they did not know by paying a sum of money.

The two Chinese foreigners used fake Mexican passports to smooth their journey to other countries.

"Investigations have started, it's just a matter of time until their cases are transferred to court," he said.