Customs office to use X-ray detectors at seaports

Customs office to use X-ray detectors at seaports

JAKARTA (JP): The Directorate General of Customs and Excise
plans to install X-ray detectors for shipping containers next
year when the new customs law comes fully into effect.

Director General of Customs and Excise Soehardjo Soebardi said
yesterday that the installation of the detectors is to expedite
the clearance of goods from customs areas and also to prevent and
deter possible smuggling of illegal goods.

"The smuggling trend seems to be on the increase, and
therefore we have to be more alert," Soehardjo told journalists
after opening a safety driving course for customs officials.

Soehardjo noted that the recent drugs seizures by Indonesian
customs officials, were carried out at airports.

"We are still investigating the possibility of drug
trafficking via sea cargoes," Soehardjo said.

Customs and excise officials at Soekarno-Hatta airport in
Jakarta have seized a total of 126,221 ecstasy pills from nine
smugglers in the past five months.

Soehardjo said earlier that people will continue to smuggle
ecstasy here as long as there is a profit to be made.

Soehardjo said the X-ray detectors for containers will be
installed at the Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta and the Tanjung
Perak port in Surabaya, East Java -- the two busiest ports in the
country.

Unlike the country's sea ports, all of Indonesia's
international airports have been equipped with X-ray detectors
for air freight.

Soehardjo, however, declined to disclose the investment costs
for procuring and installing X-ray detectors for containers,
saying that their procurement is still in being processed.

The container detectors are expected to be installed some time
next year, when the customs law comes into force and the customs
office regains its inspection authority for imported and exported
goods. (rid)