Luxury car-smuggling attempt foiled in Cirebon<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon<\/p>\n
The Cirebon, West Java, tax and excise office confiscated 19
\ncontainers filled with luxurious cars and electronic goods, which
\nwere brought in from Singapore without the necessary
\ndocumentation.<\/p>\n
Director general for tax and excise affairs Permana Agung, who
\nmade an unannounced inspection of Cirebon port on Monday, said
\nthe contents of the containers had been confiscated, pending
\nfurther investigation into the alleged smuggling incident.<\/p>\n
"The importation of luxury cars and electronic goods without
\nany official documentation as required by law is really
\nsmuggling. We shall investigate the case thoroughly," he said.<\/p>\n
Two of the 19 containers had inside them a Jaguar sports car,
\na Land Cruiser, a Mercedes Benz S-320 and a S-280, worth in total
\nRp 3.5 billion, while the 17 others contained thousands of
\nforeign-brand TVs and other electronic goods, worth Rp 17
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
He said the luxury cars and electronic goods had been brought
\nin by the Panama-registered ship MV Sentosa Jaya on Jan. 6, 2002
\nand, so far, no one had claimed them.<\/p>\n
"The containers were ordered by local firm PT Tiang Grage but
\nwe have to inquire who has tried to profit illegally from the
\ncontainer order," he said.<\/p>\n
The smuggling was detected when the seaport authorities
\nreceived three different manifests of the container order. The
\ncontainers were opened by force after the disappearance of the
\npeople who had handed over the manifests.<\/p>\n
"It raised the suspicion of seaport authorities when those
\nclaiming the containers issued three different manifests and,
\nshortly afterwards, they disappeared," he said.<\/p>\n
Asked about the possible involvement of tax and excise
\nofficers in the smuggling, Permana said he would look into that
\nand anyone found guilty would be fired.<\/p>\n
"We will look into it and coordinate with our investigators to
\ncarry out a thorough investigation of the incident," he said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that his office had difficulty in preventing
\nsuch smuggling because it had to monitor 130 seaports, which
\ncould be used as an entry point for illegal goods into the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Permana said that during his tenure, his office had foiled
\nnumerous smuggling attempts, valued at Rp 10 trillion, and had
\nfired 200 officers found to be involved.<\/p>\n
"We will fire any tax and excise officers or staff who are
\ninvolved in the smuggling of luxury cars and electronic goods,"
\nhe said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/luxury-car-smuggling-attempt-foiled-in-cirebon-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}