629 Kiloliters of Malaysian Diesel Smuggled to Riau Islands

Illustration of a tanker carrying diesel fuel. (Pixabay)

RIAU ISLAND - Ship MT. Zakira was arrested by Batam Customs for trying to import 629.3 kiloliters of High-Speed ​​Diesel or HSD from Malaysia to the Riau Islands. State losses from the smuggling attempt were estimated at IDR 1,362,121,000.

"From the officers' investigation results, the total value of the diesel fuel is estimated at IDR 7,362,810,000 with state losses reaching IDR 1,362,121,000", said Director General of Customs and Excise Askolani in Batam, Riau Islands, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, October 5.

This action, said Askolani, started from information received by Customs officers about the mode of smuggling of fuel oil (BBM) by ship to ship or ship to ship.

Askolani explained that the smuggling mode was carried out when the ship slowed down or stopped floating in the waters of the Singapore Strait and the waters east of Johor, Malaysia.

"The mode used is to load diesel fuel oil by ship to ship from several ships outside the customs area, then enter the customs area without being equipped with a manifest", he said.

Meanwhile, the action this time started from the monitoring of the customs ship's radar on September 20 which showed the MT ship. Zakira is in position east of Penawar Bay, Malaysian waters.

At that time, it was observed that many ships were approaching the MT ship. Zakira. Allegedly MT. Zakira does ship to ship HSD diesel oil illegally.

Then, on September 25, the ship MT. Zakira has moved and is active towards the Haluan to the west from Pengerang and into the waterways of Malaysia and Singapore.

“After entering Indonesian waters, the ship was inspected by the Sriwijaya Net Marine Patrol Task Force in the waters of Karimun Besar Island. From these inspections the ship MT. Zakira was caught transporting 629.3 kiloliters of diesel HSD and was not equipped with customs documents", said Askolani.

In addition, Customs and Excise also carried out security for the suspect with the initials MI as the captain of the ship and AZ as the crew. Both have been detained and questioned at the Batam Port Sector Police detention house on September 27, 2022.

Nine other witnesses have also been examined. Evidence in the form of the MT Zakira GT 539 tanker, 629.3 KL diesel 48, and ship documents have been secured at the Batam Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) base dock.