Jail sentence sought for alleged smuggler<\/p>\n
TANGERANG (JP): The director of an export company was indicted
\non Friday at Tangerang District Court for attempting to smuggle
\ncobras to neighboring Malaysia and Singapore last November.<\/p>\n
\"The defendant was trying to smuggle 540 cobras to Malaysia
\nand Singapore by means of counterfeited export documents,\"
\nprosecutor Supriati said at the initial hearing in the trial of
\nYuliana binti Hasan of CV Winada Pratama.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor said the act of counterfeiting export documents
\nto disguise the true contents of a shipment was in violation of
\nArticle 103 of 1995 Law No. 10 on International Customs. The
\narticle carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail.<\/p>\n
The case sets a precedent because the police were not involved
\nin the preparation of the dossiers. The preliminary investigation
\nof the case was conducted by officials from the Soekarno-Hatta
\nInternational Airport's Customs and Excise Office.<\/p>\n
Customs officials also arrested three other suspects --
\nPrawoto, Sudarman and Budiardjo -- who are being tried
\nseparately.<\/p>\n
In the indictment, the prosecutor said the defendant, a North
\nJakarta resident, tried to smuggle 540 cobras packed in 36
\ncartons destined for Malaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n
The cobras, which are listed as protected in the country, were
\nowned by someone identified as Mr. Lee, Supriati said.<\/p>\n
She stated Yuliana attempted to deceive the customs officials
\nby providing them with a fake document and fictitious name of an
\nexport company.<\/p>\n
\"With the help of Prawoto, Sudarman and Budiardjo, the
\ndefendant stated in the document the contents were crabs, not
\ncobras,\" she said in the hearing presided over by Judge Haogoro
\nHarefa.<\/p>\n
Supriati said Yuliana identified the exporter as PT Wahana
\nPratama instead of CV Winada Pratama.<\/p>\n
She said the custom officials discovered the smuggling attempt
\non Nov. 24 as the packages were undergoing inspection.<\/p>\n
\"Instead of finding crabs in the cartons, the officials found
\nprotected animals of cobras inside,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The section head for information affairs of Soekarno-Hatta
\nInternational Airport customs office, Sudirman, said his agency
\ndecided to proceed with the case because the police often let
\nsimilar cases slide without providing clear reasons.<\/p>\n
\"Starting from today, we will proceed with the cases
\nourselves. We should not rely on the police,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Haogoro adjourned the hearing until Monday to hear the defense
\nstatement. (41\/asa)<\/p>",
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