Ahead Of Eid Al-Adha, 9,432 Bottles Of Alcohol Confiscated By Satpol PP Tasikmalaya

Satpol PP Tasikmalaya conducted a raid on alcohol ahead of Eid al-Adha 2023 (ANTARA)

TASIKMALAYA - The Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) of Tasikmalaya City, West Java, confiscated 9,432 bottles of various brands worth hundreds of millions of rupiah from a warehouse on Jalan Ir Juanda, Bungursari District for illegal and violating regional regulations.

"The confiscated goods were 9,432 (bottles). The total loss was Rp431,115,000 based on the price sold at one of the e-commerce," said Head of Public Order, Public Peace, and Community Protection of Tasikmalaya City Satpol PP, Budhi Hermawan, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday 27 June.

He said the raid on the liquor warehouse was based on reports from the public, then coordinated with the police and sub-district government officials, sub-districts, and community leaders until finally thousands of bottles of liquor were found in the warehouse, last Monday.

The warehouse for storing alcoholic beverages, he said, was based on investigations, its activities were illegal because the Tasikmalaya City Government did not give permission to sell free alcoholic beverages in accordance with regional regulations.

"For now, it can be categorized like that (illegal). Especially for the City of Tasikmalaya, it is categorized as violating the regional regulation considering that for the City of Tasikmalaya there is no dispensation for alcoholic drinks, while only 0 percent of alcohol is allowed," said Budhi.

He conveyed that alcoholic beverages stored in warehouses were suppliers distributed to a number of shops in the East Priangan area, namely Tasikmalaya City/Regency, Ciamis, Banjar, and Pangandaran.

However, he said, based on the confession of the person in charge of the warehouse, this alcoholic drink is a non-selling item in the market which is planned to be exchanged because the product is still new.

"The goods are distributed to shops in the East Priangan area, the goods in the warehouse are'return' items because they do not sell well in the market considering that the goods are new brands," he said.

Regarding the owner of the liquor, said Budhi, it has not been secured because during the raid there were only branch heads, while the owner was in Bandung, even so his party had sent a summons to undergo an examination.

He conveyed that the Tasikmalaya City Satpol PP would provide a warning as a first step to provide guidance in complying with Regional Regulation Number 7 of 2015 concerning Alcoholic Drinks that should not be sold in Tasikmalaya.

"The next step is in accordance with the regional regulation which is 'ultimum remidium; that is, we give a warning as a form of guidance to comply with the regional regulations that apply in Tasikmalaya City, especially Regional Regulation Number 7 of 2015 concerning Alcoholic Drinks, especially considering the City of Tasikmalaya which has jargon as a city of students," he said.