North Sumatra Police Thwarts Efforts To Smuggle 71 Ton Solar Worth Billions

Transport used for illegal diesel trading (ANTARA)

The Joint Team of the Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation of the North Sumatra Regional Police together with the Tanjung Balai Police Criminal Investigation Unit thwarted an attempt to smuggle 71 tons of diesel fuel which is suspected to be illegal for billions of rupiah.

The arrests were made in three different locations in the Nibung Bay area, Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra. From this smuggling failure, the officers arrested nine people and are still in the process of further investigation and investigation.

The nine people who were arrested had the initials MN, K, RS, PR, MI, I, D, AM, H. In addition to securing the nine people, officers secured three trucks bearing Pertamina and two ships. This diesel fuel is estimated at 71 tons and is suspected to be illegal.

The Head of Public Relations of the North Sumatra Police, Kombes Hadi Wahyudi, stated that the disclosure of the alleged illegal smuggling of oil fuel began with information that the tanker contained diesel to be misappropriated.

Officers who received this information, on Monday (31/7/2023) at around 04.30 WIB on Letjen Suprapto Street, Kapias Pulau Buaya Village, Teluk Nibung District, officers forcibly stopped the BK 8640 XI tank truck driven by K along with two RS and PR.

"Then the officers conducted an inspection and found 24 tons of industrial diesel fuel which was suspected to be illegal. Furthermore, the tanker carrying diesel fuel with the three people was taken to the Tanjungbalai Police Headquarters," said Hadi, Wednesday, August 9.

The officers then carried out developments and took action again on Wednesday (2/8/2023) at around 18.00 WIB on Jalan Yos Sudarso, Teluk Nibung District, to be precise at Gudang GH. During the action, officers secured boats with a cargo of five tank units with a capacity of 1 ton each.

On Thursday (3/82023), officers again secured the truck BK 8167 FN driven by MN carrying 24 tons of diesel fuel from a warehouse located in the Gambus area, Batubara Regency, to Tanjungbalai City. Two days later, at around 01.03 WIB, officers secured another BK 8813 FN tank truck carrying 18 tons of diesel fuel driven by AM and H without valid documents in the Sudirman Street area, Tanjung Balai City.

Hadi also explained that the evidence of diesel fuel is planned to be carried by a transport ship in the Tanjung Balai area which is suspected to be for industrial purposes.

He said, the prosecution was of course based on the results of an investigation conducted by a team from the North Sumatra Police together with the Tanjung Balai Police. From the investigation carried out by the joint team, we carried out 4 legal action against the misuse of subsidized or non-subsidized fuel which would be distributed or carried by transport ships in Tanjung Balai.

"From the results of this action, we have managed to secure 9 people and currently the investigation process is ongoing and we are continuing to develop it," said Hadi.

Kini terhadap sejumlah orang yang diamankan itu masih sebagai saksi untuk ditulami keterangannya di Mapolres Tanjung Balai. Sedangkan untuk barang bukti puluhan ton BBM solar sedang dilakukan pemeriksaan uji lab bersama pihak Pertamina untuk memastikan apakah solar itu produk Pertamina atau tidak.

"The disclosure of the criminal case of misuse of the transportation of fuel oil without a permit will be further investigated by investigators from the North Sumatra Police Criminal Investigation Directorate," said Hadi.