20 smuggled seized in W. Java

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

The West Java Police said on Tuesday that they had seized 20 luxury cars, including one belonging to artist Lia Waroka, which were smuggled into the country.

Sr. Comr. Kurniawan, the West Java Provincial Police chief of detectives, said the vehicles were confiscated over the past two weeks with the help of Banten Police.

The vehicles were some of the 72 luxury cars, identified by the West Java Police, as those that were smuggled into Indonesia. Almost all of the ownership or registration documents were issued by the West Java Police.

Kurniawan said the 20 seized cars included a Jaguar sedan with police registration number A 52 P, owned by Lia Waroka.

Others included a Mercedes sedan with registration number A 911 KS, and a Rolls Royce with registration number A 111 RS, both belonging to a legislator from West Java, he added.

Kurniawan said eight of the 20 cars would be held as evidence at Banten Police Headquarters, six at West Java Police Headquarters and three at the Jakarta Metro Jaya Police Headquarters.

He said the investigation into the recent haul of luxury cars was centered around the Banten Police as most of the smuggled vehicles had been seen in areas between Jakarta, Banten and Lampung.

He said his office was having difficulty in locating the whereabouts of the other 52 luxury cars.

"The owners of the cars have likely hidden their vehicles because they fear the cars will be confiscated. We suspect that many of them obtained new ownership documents from police outside West Java," Kurniawan said.

He said his office would continue to cooperate with police in other provinces to locate the other 52 vehicles.

Kurniawan also said that an investigation was under way on a Mercedes sedan with registration number A 1 L, belonging to West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Sudirman Ail. The car is suspected of being among the luxury cars smuggled into the country.

Kurniawan declined to comment further.

However, deputy West Java Police chief Brig. Gen. Deddy S. Komarudin said that Ail's car was not illegal as it had the required official documents.

Earlier, police chiefs from the Serang and Pandeglang districts were discharged for their alleged role in issuing registration permits for the smuggled cars.