1,400 cellphones confiscated

PADANG, West Sumatra: As many as 1,400 cellular phones packed in 14 boxes shipped anonymously from Singapore were confiscated by Tabing Airport officials on Thursday for lacking proper documentation.

Untung Rahayu, head of PT Angkasa Pura II, a company which manages the airport, told The Jakarta Post his men learned that the documents were false after the goods were loaded onto a Mandala plane bound for Jakarta.

"We had to have the goods unloaded from the plane. The documents did not specify the content of the boxes. They just said the boxes contained general goods. We decided to confiscate the goods as the documents also did not mention the sender."

He said the goods were flown by a Silk Air plane from Singapore on Wednesday and had been placed at the airport tax and excise storeroom for one night before being loaded onto the Mandala plane on Thursday.

According to Untung, the goods were sent to a company based in Jakarta. He declined to go into detail.

He also failed to reveal the brand of the cellular phones or the estimate total price of the goods as well as the loss inflicted on the state by the smuggling attempt. (28/sur)