An Illegal Miras Charged Ship Worth IDR 4.38 Billion Was Arrested, Having Crashed The Customs Patrol Vessel Until It Was Damaged

Hundreds of boxes containing 8,784 bottles of illegal liquor worth Rp4.38 billion with an estimated state loss of Rp9 billion were arrested by Customs and Excise of Batam and the Indonesian Navy. (Photo via ANTARA/HO-Humas Customs)

JAKARTA - A wooden ship loaded with illegal liquor was successfully secured by the Batam Customs and Excise team. The ship contained 8,784 bottles of illegal alcohol.

This arrest was made by the Batam Customs and Excise team in collaboration with the TNI AL IV/Batam Main Base. The minimum value of cargo goods reached Rp4.38 billion with state losses estimated at Rp9 billion.

Head of the Batam Customs Information Service Section Ricky Hanafie said the estimated state loss was greater than the value of the liquor due to import duties, taxes in the context of imports and excise that should have been paid.

"From the catch, the value of the liquor on the ship was Rp. 4.38 billion with an estimated state loss of Rp. 9 billion. The joint team arrested the ship in the waters of Tanjung Sengkuang, Batam," Ricky said, as reported by Antara, Saturday, October 22.

Ricky explained that this arrest began when the Joint Marine Patrol Task Force received information about a wooden ship suspected of being loaded with illegal liquor entering Indonesian waters. After being found, the officers then gave chase to the waters of Tanjung Sengkuang.

"During the pursuit and process of termination, the ship accidentally crashed into the Customs patrol boat so that the hull of the Customs patrol boat was damaged. In addition, the wooden ship's crew (ABK) was not cooperative.," said Ricky.

"After that, the Customs and Excise officer asked for help from the Batam Lantamal IV Patrol Team. The Batam Lantamal IV Patrol Team participated in assisting the Customs Patrol Task Force in the process of pursuing the target ship," he said.

Furthermore, the ship was traveling at high speed towards shallow water around Sengkuang waters so that the ship ran aground. When the ship ran aground, the crew made an attempt to escape by jumping into the sea.

At the same time, the entire Patrol Task Force tried to carry out search and rescue activities. However, not long after the incident, based on the supervision of officers, it was seen that two tugboats were helping the crew to escape.

"With the coordination and collaboration of the Customs and Excise marine patrol task force and support from Lantamal IV Batam to prioritize the safety of officers, the ship was captured by officers," explained Ricky.

"At the time of the inspection, no documents were found on the ship's equipment and it was found that the ship's condition was leaking and the ship's nameplate had been dumped by the crew of the ship," he continued.

The perpetrator is suspected of violating Article 102 of the Customs Act with criminal sanctions for smuggling in the field of imports with a minimum imprisonment of 1 year and a maximum imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of at least Rp. 50,000,000.00 and a maximum of Rp. 5,000,000,000.00.

Or Article 50 of the Excise Law with a minimum imprisonment of 1 year and a maximum of 5 years and a fine of at least 2 times the excise value and a maximum of 10 times the excise value that should be paid.