The Directorate General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance found a potential state loss of up to IDR 906.16 billion from a number of prohibitions throughout 2021. Nirwala Dwi Heryanto, Director of Communication and Guidance for Service Users, explained that his party continues to monitor border areas through sea patrols. Throughout 2021, Customs and Excise succeeded in stopping various smuggling attempts in various areas in 321 preventions. "Until December 2021, there have been 321 preventions with an estimated value of Rp. 3.56 trillion of goods with a potential state loss of Rp. 906.16 billion," said Nirwala in an official statement, Wednesday (5/1/2022).
Customs and Excise also prevented the entry of narcotics, namely 1.6 tons of methampetamine, 30,000 ecstasy pills and 1,000 happy five pills through sea operations.
According to Customs and Excise, continuous sea and land surveillance can prevent the entry of narcotics so as to protect the nation's children from the dangers of illegal drugs.
Nirawala said Customs and Excise had also carried out maritime patrol operations with an integrated scheme simultaneously, under the code of Customs operations of Sriwijaya Nets (JS) and Wallacea Nets (JW). The integrated operation is divided into two periods, namely in semester I and semester II 2021.
In the JS and JW 2021 operations, Customs and Excise made 16 arrests, with one of the most prominent ones being the motor sailing vessel (KLM) Tohor Jaya in the waters of Pulau Burung, Riau. The ship was carrying 17 kg of methampetamine and 1,000 happy fives, wrapped in Chinese tea bags and in gas cylinders to trick the officers.
There was also an operation against KLM Musfita in Natuna waters, namely an attempt to smuggle into Malaysia with a cargo of about 200 tons of forest products in the form of rattan. Then, there was a deterrence in the waters of East Aceh against the wooden ship Oskadon loaded with around 200 kg of methampetamine type narcotics, 200,000 ecstasy pills, and 47,500 happy five pills.
"In addition to the above commodities, the commodities that were successfully secured during the operation included baby lobster, textiles, forest products in the form of puzzle wood, and other mixed goods," said Nirwala.
In addition to sea patrols by vertical elements below, Customs and Excise also coordinates maritime patrol operations with other law enforcement officers (APH). Some of the results of the operation include the joint prevention of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) against KLM Aisah 25 containing 89 kilograms of methampetamine-type narcotics in the waters of Donggala, West Sulawesi.
Another operational synergy is the incorporation of the Customs and Excise maritime patrol task force in the Dewa Ruci Operation which was held by the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police. According to Nirwala, his party played a major role in the disclosure of 1,278 tons of narcotics from the Middle East international network in April 2021.
"The Customs and Excise maritime surveillance activities carried out are proof of the government's seriousness in protecting and securing Indonesian waters from smuggling actions that can harm the country," said Nirwala.
