After 1.5-Hour Meeting with Purbaya, Bakamla Head Proposes Collaboration with Customs

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Head of Bakamla RI, Rear Admiral TNI Irvansyah, visited the office of Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday (29/4/2026). Following the meeting, which lasted around 1.5 hours starting at approximately 11.30, Irvansyah stated that the purpose of his visit to Purbaya was to strengthen Bakamla’s role in securing state revenues, particularly in Indonesia’s waters. Therefore, during this meeting, he invited Purbaya to synergise customs supervision efforts at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) with Bakamla, especially through Indonesia’s maritime routes. “To strengthen Bakamla while exploring cooperation between Bakamla and Customs to secure and increase state revenues. To reduce leakages at sea,” said Irvansyah when met after the meeting. One form of cooperation he proposed to Purbaya is joint sea patrols and sharing information related to illegal activities in Indonesia’s waters. “That’s the hope. The hope is that we are involved, included, and joined. Especially at sea. If it’s on land, we’re not suited for that. We’re the Maritime Security Agency, not land security,” he emphasised. According to Irvansyah, Bakamla has previously been involved in enforcing actions against various smuggling activities via sea routes. Although he did not disclose the value of secured potential state losses from these actions, he mentioned one case involving textile smuggling. There were also smuggling cases of livestock, narcotics, and children’s toys. “In 2025, starting from around 2024. Textiles and used clothing, mostly from Malaysia,” Irvansyah emphasised. In the meeting, he admitted that the details of the cooperation between Bakamla and the Directorate General of Customs and Excise had not yet been determined with Purbaya. “The details haven’t been drawn up yet. We’ve briefly discussed it with the Director General of Customs, and we’ll prepare it. Hopefully soon, the Minister seems to agree. We’ll just proceed with the cooperation,” he explained.