Car smuggling attempt foiled

Car smuggling attempt foiled

BATAM: The local customs office in Batam foiled the attempted
smuggling of 12 luxurious cars from Singapore to Jakarta and
arrested the alleged owner of the vehicles.

Local councillors who inspected the crime scene said that the
owner of the cars claimed he was a brother of Vice President
Hamzah Haz.

"There are reports from the custom office saying that the
owner claimed himself to be the vice president's brother,"
councillor Fransiscus Simbolon said on Saturday.

The illegal cars were held in a warehouse at the Batam
seaport, pending the customs office's investigation.

Batam has been a regular transit area for car smugglers. In
2002, the customs office confiscated 45 illegal vehicles imported
to country, but the results of the investigation into the case
remains unclear. -- Antara