Five customs officials fired over Cirebon smuggling<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon<\/p>\n
At least five officials of the Cirebon customs and excise
\noffice in West Java have been dismissed from their posts
\nfollowing the smuggling of 19 containers with luxury cars and
\nelectronic goods inside.<\/p>\n
Customs and Excise Director General Permana Agung confirmed on
\nSaturday that the high-profile case was a "serious consideration"
\nbehind the removal of the five local officials.<\/p>\n
"The case has certainly become a special notice for their
\ndismissals," he added.<\/p>\n
He did not say whether or not they were actually involved in
\nthe smuggling, which caused Rp 20.5 billion in losses to the
\nstate, however.<\/p>\n
Tarsiwan, head of the Cirebon customs and excise office
\nitself, was not among the five discharged officials, which
\nincluded customs division I head Jusril Chaniago; customs
\ndivision II head Erman Anas, and documentation and information
\ndivision head Bambang Tri Hono.<\/p>\n
The other two dismissed, Giarto and Masri Abdullah, were both
\nheads of separate subdivisions.<\/p>\n
The five would be assigned to new jobs outside Cirebon.<\/p>\n
The smuggling case has turned into a prolonged polemic among
\nthe Cirebon authorities, the customs and excise office and
\nlegislative council, as it appeared to implicate senior officials
\nat the local level.<\/p>\n
The 19 containers, carrying four luxury cars and hundreds of
\nelectronic goods, were discovered as they were being smuggled in
\nfrom Singapore via the port of Cirebon on Jan. 10.<\/p>\n
The investigation into the scandal is underway, but the local
\ncustoms and excise office released at least 17 of the containers
\non March 8, claiming that they did not have any smuggled goods
\ninside.<\/p>\n
Permana defended the release of the 17 containers by saying
\nthat "the problem with these 17 containers is over ... but we are
\nstill holding onto the two others as evidence until the
\ninvestigation is completed."<\/p>\n
"We expect to be able to hand investigation dossiers over to
\nthe Cirebon prosecutor's office on Monday," he added.<\/p>\n
The city's legislative council objected to the move, however,
\nand demanded that they be sent back the seaport as evidence.<\/p>\n
In addition to their own investigation, council members would
\nalso rely on the results of hearings with prosecutors, police,
\ncustoms, and PT Pelindo officials, council speaker Suryana said.
\n(PT Pelindo is the company in charge of managing the port.)<\/p>\n
Suryana added that the dismissal of the officials was not
\nsufficient.<\/p>\n
"We continue to demand that the case be resolved fairly and
\nhonestly. The officials' removal is merely an internal sanction,
\nand will not settle the core problem," added Suryana, who also
\nleads the council's investigative team.<\/p>\n
The legislature censured the city's customs and excise office,
\nalong with the police and prosecutor's offices, and demanded that
\nthe local heads of the three offices -- and the director of PT
\nPelindo -- be removed from their posts for not being able to
\ndiscover who was at the root of the smuggling.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor's office has named Soenarko Kasidin, the
\ndirector of private company PT Tiang Grage -- the owner of some
\nof the containers -- as a suspect in the case.<\/p>\n
The council, however, questioned the decision to charge the
\nbusinessman, saying that he was not likely a key player in the
\ncase, and could have easily been victimized by the conspiracy.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/five-customs-officials-fired-over-cirebon-smuggling-1447893297",
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