Fake Documents, Director General Of Immigration Arrests Perpetrators Of Smuggling People To US

Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement Surya Mataram at the Directorate General of Immigration Building, Jakarta, Wednesday (2/8/2023). (ANTARA)

The Directorate General of Immigration is collaborating with the United States Embassy in arresting forgers of Indonesian immigration stamps suspected of committing the Crime of Human Smuggling (TPPM).

Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement Surya Mataram said that there was one suspect with the initials ODG (37) in the alleged human smuggling attempt as referred to in Article 120 paragraph (2) of Law Number 6 of 2011 concerning Immigration Jo. Article 53 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code or Article 121 letter a of Law - Law Number 6 of 2011 concerning Immigration. "Currently, the case file is declared complete and the case will be immediately transferred to court," Surya said at a press conference "Disclosure of the Suspect in the Case of Human Smuggling Enters the Judicial Process at the Directorate General of Immigration Building, quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, August 2.

Surya said that ODG is threatened with a minimum imprisonment of five years and a maximum of 15 years and a fine of at least Rp. 500 million and a maximum of Rp. 1.5 billion. He explained that this case stems from the finding of immigration stamps suspected of being fake on a number of Indonesian passports that apply for visas to the United States Embassy. "The one who gave information that there was a suspicion that there was a passport during the pandemic was allegedly a fake stamp that came in and out of Malaysia, Singapore and falsified the Indonesian immigration stamp," he said.

The Embassy, continued Surya, immediately coordinated with the Directorate General of Immigration who then followed up by carrying out the pre-investigation stage. At this stage Immigration examined potential victims and carried out forensic examinations of immigration stamps on each person's passports. "When asked for information, separately they admitted that they were recruited by ODG, which they knew through Facebook and on behalf of PT MCP," he explained. The ODG operates by offering services for the management of US Visa through WhatsApp/Facebook/Working Group. The victims were asked to send a sum of money varying between Rp11.5 million to Rp22 million to an account in the name of ODG or PT MCP and were asked to send their passports to ODG. The passport will later be added to immigration stamps of various countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. The purpose of the Cap relocation is to improve the qualifications of Indonesian passport holders to make it easier to obtain US visas.

"It is as if prospective victims have traveled to Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Indonesian immigration stamp were also faked to make it easier to get visas," said Surya. Surya said. This step was proven effective because on April 22, 2023, ODG was found by Immigration Officers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport when they were about to leave for Malaysia. ODG was taken to the Director General of Immigration to carry out further investigations. "The ODG had disappeared so we couldn't do it. Finally, ODG was prevented from going abroad through Decree Number IMI.51307.GR.03.02 of 2022 dated November 3, 2022," he added.

After examining and obtaining sufficient evidence, on May 3, 2023, Immigration Investigators named ODG as a suspect and detained him at the Pondok Bambu Class I State Detention Center.

Investigators have secured several pieces of evidence. Among them are five Indonesian passports belonging to potential victims, one passport belonging to the suspect, one packaged deflashdisk belonging to the suspect. BCA Newspaper Account on behalf of ODG and PT MCP, as well as one PT MCP Profile file.

"On July 24, 2023, the DKI Jakarta Prosecutor's Office has issued a P-21 Letter, meaning that the case file is complete, so we will immediately submit the suspect and evidence for further legal proceedings," he concluded.