Police told to fight sugar smugglers<\/p>\n
MEDAN, North Sumatra: North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin
\nasked police here on Thursday to crack down on what he called the
\nsugar smuggling mafia that had been operating in the province
\nover the last few months.<\/p>\n
The rampant smuggling of sugar should be eradicated, otherwise
\nit could cause losses to the government in import duties and harm
\ndomestic sugar production.<\/p>\n
\"I'm convinced that such illegal activities will cease as soon
\nas the police arrest the contraband mafia bosses,\" Rizal said.<\/p>\n
The provincial legislative council backed the governor's call,
\nsaying the local police and prosecutors should launch joint
\noperations against the sugar smugglers.<\/p>\n
The mafia was believed to involve local officials.<\/p>\n
The North Sumatra Police recently seized around 100 tons of
\nillegally imported sugar from India from a warehouse in the Medan
\nSunggal area. Three trucks were also seized and two suspects
\ndetained.<\/p>\n
In addition, the police also seized 77 containers of sugar
\nillegally imported from Singapore.<\/p>\n
North Sumatra Police detectives' chief Sr. Comr. Satria Hari
\nPrasetya said he had made a list of the suspected smugglers but
\nstill lacked sufficient evidence to make arrests. --JP<\/p>\n
Ex-senior officials jailed for graft<\/p>\n
SURABAYA: Former Surabaya legislative council speaker Mochamad
\nBasuki and former city secretary Muhammad Yasin have been jailed
\nfor corruption.<\/p>\n
The Surabaya District Court found Basuki guilty of abuse of
\npower, causing losses of Rp 2.7 billion (US$329,268) to the
\nstate, when he was speaker of the council, Antara reported on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
He was jailed for 18 months, fined Rp 20 million and ordered
\nto repay Rp 200 million to the state. Prosecutors had demanded a
\ntwo-year-jail term for Basuki.<\/p>\n
Judge Miswari Ismijati said the defendant was not guilty of
\nthe main charge of having enriched himself.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors and Basuki's lawyers are both considering filing
\nappeals.<\/p>\n
In a separate trial, the court sentenced Yasin to nine months
\nin jail for his involvement in the same case. He was ordered to
\nreturn Rp 25 million to the state. --JP<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-told-to-fight-sugar-smugglers-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}