Customs Denies Intimidating Passenger Carrying Pokémon Cards from Abroad
The Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) has denied allegations of intimidation against a passenger who was carrying Pokémon cards from abroad during an inspection by customs officers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Cengkareng.
Recently, social media has been abuzz with claims that customs officers at Soekarno-Hatta conducted baggage checks and intimidated a passenger who had brought Pokémon cards after returning from overseas.
“Regarding the circulating narrative that the passenger was crying due to intimidation, this is untrue,” wrote DJBC via its Instagram account @beacukairi in a post on Sunday (May 17th).
The DJBC emphasized that its officers uphold integrity, professionalism, and respect for the rights and obligations of every citizen while carrying out their duties.
The DJBC also explained the chronology of events leading to the inspection of the passenger’s belongings.
The incident occurred on Wednesday (May 13th), when customs officers at Soekarno-Hatta conducted an inspection of the baggage of a passenger with the initials JES, who had arrived from abroad.
“The inspection was carried out as a follow-up to indications from X-ray images showing a large number of Pokémon cards in the passenger’s suitcase,” wrote DJBC.
The DJBC stated that the X-ray images strongly indicated activity related to providing goods on consignment (jastip).
The DJBC explained that the suspicion of jastip was based on two assumptions: first, data showing that JES had frequently traveled abroad with high frequency within a short period. Second, monitoring of JES’s social media accounts revealed offers for foreign shopping items.
“From the in-depth inspection, it was discovered that the passenger, JES, was carrying a significant number of Pokémon cards,” said DJBC.
During the confirmation process by officers, JES stated that the goods were souvenirs and not for resale, and showed proof of purchase (invoice).
After verifying the data, officers concluded that the items were personal belongings.
Based on this, the passenger’s baggage was exempted from import duties and taxes.