Sidoarjo Police Canceled The Delivery Of 33 Thousand Fries To Batam, 5 People Arrested

Sidoarjo police officers show the smuggled barbuk fry (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Sidoarjo Police's Criminal Investigation Unit successfully thwarted an attempt to send 33 thousand illegal lobster seeds through Surabaya's Juanda International Airport in Sidoarjo, East Java.

Kapolresta Sidoarjo Kompol Wahyudin Latif said the shipment of thousands of lobster seeds by air at Juanda Airport headed to Batam.

"Officers arrested the perpetrator while unloading a suitcase containing lobster seeds at Juanda International Airport," he said during a press conference at the Sidoarjo Police Headquarters, reported by Antara, Wednesday, March 10.

The arrests began when officers and related agencies secured 2 people with the initials AJ and ST in the car park of Terminal I Juanda International Airport, Sidoarjo, Monday, March 8 at around 05.00 WIB.

The two perpetrators, continued Kompol Wahyudin, played a role in dispatching 1 suitcase containing 33 transparent plastic bags from Juanda to Batam. Each bag contains 1,000 fry.

Of the total 33 thousand lobster seeds, he continued, with details of 31 thousand sand type lobster seeds and 2 thousand types of pearls.

"Then our team carried out development, and arrested two other suspects, namely WB and HM as escorts from the quarantine place for lobster seeds from Mojokerto to Juanda Airport, and another IS suspect played the role of the person who ordered the delivery," said Kompol Wahyudin Latif.

From the disclosure of the illegal lobster seed export case, the Sidoarjo Police Criminal Investigation Unit continues to develop and hunt down other suspects, namely business owners.

"The failure to export illegal lobster seeds is also due to the synergy of the TNI, Polri, together with Customs and Excise and BKIPM Surabaya," he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Fish Quarantine Center, Quality Control and Safety of Fishery Products (BKIPM), Muhlin, said that currently the export of lobster seeds is prohibited.

He explained that all stakeholders at Juanda International Airport have tightened their checks on illegal goods, both entering and exiting through Juanda International Airport.

The suspect in the illegal fry export case who was arrested by the Sidoarjo Police, is subject to a sentence of 8 years in prison, as stipulated in Article 92 in conjunction with Article 26 paragraph 1 of Indonesian Law No. 45 of 2009.