West Java Regional Police Arrest Again Subang LPG Smugglers That Make The State Overdraw Rp 8 Billion

Photo via Antara

JAKARTA - The Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimsus) of the West Java Police has arrested another new suspect in the case of smuggling subsidized LPG gas into non-subsidized cylinders in Subang, West Java.

Director of the West Java Police Special Criminal Investigation, Kombes Pol Arief Rahman, said the other suspect had the initials MH (30). The man, he said, acted as the foreman or second person in charge at the location.

"This is a syndication because it sees many internal and external parties," said Arief in Bandung, West Java, Friday, July 15, quoted from Antara.

From the arrest, it means that there are already two suspects in the LPG gas smuggling case in Subang. One suspect who was first arrested was TA (42) who also acted as the foreman or the first person in charge at the location.

Now, he said, the two suspects have been brought to the West Java Regional Police for intensive examination. In addition, according to him, several other witnesses were also brought to the West Java Police.

"From the examination of the witnesses, it is possible that there are several other potential suspects who are the result of development and examination," he said.

Previously, the police raided a place to smuggle subsidized LPG gas into non-subsidized cylinders in Patokbeusi District, Subang Regency, West Java, on Thursday (14/7) early in the morning.

From the raid, a Pertamina tanker truck with a capacity of 20 tons of LPG gas was found which was operated by a third party, namely PT ER. According to him, subsidized LPG gas from the tank truck is sucked up and then put into a 50 kilogram gas cylinder.

Arief suspects the 50 kilogram gas cylinder will be sold at a non-subsidized price. From this illegal practice, he predicts that the state will suffer a loss of IDR 8 billion per month.

The two suspects, namely TA and MH, were charged with Article 55 of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Energy and Mineral Resources and Article 62 in conjunction with Article 6 Paragraph of Law Number 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection with a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a fine of IDR 60 billion.