3-Ton Pangolin Scales Smuggled, Often Used as a Cosmetic Ingredient

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — Tanjung Priok Customs and Excise thwarted the smuggling of 3,053 kilograms or about 3 tonnes of pangolin scales estimated to be worth Rp 183 billion. The illicit goods were planned for export to Cambodia. Head of the Jakarta Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) Darman said the pangolin scales traded illegally are often used as a cosmetic ingredient. ‘Following what the Head of Customs said, those pangolin scales are generally used for cosmetic mixtures,’ he said during a press conference at Tanjung Priok Port Customs, Wednesday (4/3/2026). ‘So according to Law Number 5 of 1990 together with Law 32 of 2024, therein Article 21 paragraph 2, everyone is prohibited from storing, possessing, keeping, transporting, and trading skins, bodies, or other parts of protected animals,’ he explained. Based on coordination results with Customs, from the discovery of 3,053 kilograms of dried scales, samples examined by BKSDA are strongly suspected to be pangolin scales of the Manis javanica species. ‘That the samples submitted to us, based on initial examination, are strongly suspected to be pangolin scales or Manis javanica,’ he said. Head of Customs and Excise Office Type A Tanjung Priok Adhang Noegroho Adhi said the sale value of pangolin scales is estimated at Rp 60 million per kilogram. ‘This (pangolin scales) has a sale value of around Rp 60 million per kilogram. Therefore the total estimated value of the goods is Rp 183 billion,’ he said at the same opportunity, on Wednesday. ‘Then for the perpetrators, we are conducting further deeper investigation. Because in fact this is the first export. So we still need time to trace. Who the perpetrators are, and so on,’ he added. The case disclosure started from document analysis and container scanning results by customs officers. During the physical inspection on Wednesday (18/2/2026), the front of the container was filled with instant noodle boxes. But at the back, 99 cartons containing pangolin scales were found.