Police Arrest Elderly In Cirebon Who Are Desperate To Modify Cars To Hoard Subsidized Fuel

Head of Cirebon Police Grand Commissioner Pol. Sumarni (central) when giving a statement at a press conference in Cirebon, West Java, Monday (4/3/2024). (ANTARA/Fathnur Rohman)

CIREBON - Cirebon Police, West Java, succeeded in dismantling the practice of illegally selling subsidized fuel oil (BBM) carried out by the suspect with the initials S (64) in the area. Cirebon Police Chief Kombes Sumarni explained that the perpetrators had been carrying out this illegal practice for a year by buying pertalite fuel and diesel using a modified car. In carrying out the action, S visited the gas station in Kaliwedi District, Cirebon, then showed that the My Pertamina barcode was different in one purchase to trick the filling officer. The perpetrator used a modified car with a gasoline hole that was directly connected to the tank in the back seat. So the gasoline hole next to the car is modified so that gasoline leads to a jerry can, not to the car engine,” Sumarni said in Cirebon, quoted from Antara, Monday, March 4. From the results of the examination, the fuel was then sold freely or not to recipients who were entitled to subsidized gasoline. He stated that apart from not having a valid fuel transportation and trading permit, the perpetrators often sell the subsidized gasoline at prices above market value. “ Perpetrators sell again to retailers in the Kaliwedi sub-district with a mini pump engine with a capacity of 200 liters. For pertalite, it is IDR 11,800 per liter and Solar IDR 8,500 per liter,” he said. Sumarni said S was arrested by officers from the Cirebon Police Satreskrim at the suspect's residence on January 27, 2024. A number of evidences were also confiscated for further legal proceedings. "We secured evidence in the form of two modified cars, seven empty jerry cans measuring 25 liters, three jerry cans containing diesel each with a capacity of 25 liters, one plastic drum containing approximately 150 liters of diesel type and another,” he said. As a result of this action, continued the Chief of Police, the perpetrators were subject to Article 55 of Law (UU) RI 22/2001 concerning Oil and Natural Gas which was amended in Article 40 Number 9 of Law of the Republic of Indonesia 6/2023 concerning Stipulation of Government Regulations in Lieu of Law 2/2022 concerning Job Creation into Law.

He emphasized that with this article, the perpetrators were threatened with a sentence of six years in prison and a fine of Rp. 60 billion. "The purpose of the perpetrators to do this action is to seek profit," he said.