Customs Officials' Chat Before KPK Sting: 'Careful, Mate, We're Being Watched'

A Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutor presented Customs Intelligence Sub-Directorate head Sisprian Subiaksono as a witness in the importation corruption trial at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, Ministry of Finance. During the hearing, it emerged that Sisprian had felt he was being ‘watched’ by the KPK prior to a sting operation (OTT). Initially, the prosecutor displayed a conversation between Sisprian and the Head of Customs Intelligence Section I of the Customs Enforcement and Investigation Directorate, Orlando Hamonangan, also known as Ocoy, who is a suspect in the case. In the conversation, Sisprian conveyed that he felt the KPK was monitoring him and urged Orlando to be careful. ‘So this is on the 3rd, one day before the OTT was carried out. Here, witness says, ’Yeah Bro’, then ‘Careful, mate, they say we are being watched’. This is the witness’s communication at 10.47.04. What does the witness understand by ‘We are being watched’? This is intelligence language. Please explain,’ said prosecutor M Takdir Suhan to Sisprian during the trial at the Central Jakarta Corruption Court on Wednesday (10/6/2026). For context, Sisprian and Orlando are Customs and Excise officials named as suspects following a KPK sting. However, their cases have not yet been transferred to court, so they have not been tried. Returning to Sisprian, he admitted asking Orlando to be careful after hearing information from several parties that the Customs and Excise Directorate was being monitored by the KPK. Sisprian’s warning to Orlando was also related to the existence of ‘operational funds’ that could not be accounted for. ‘With permission, Your Honour, at that time we heard a lot of information that many were monitoring our movements. That’s why I told Orlando to be careful. Because I knew that there were operational funds with us. I was afraid that would become the problem,’ said Sisprian. ‘Alright. Then, who did the witness understand was watching? The KPK or someone else?’ asked the prosecutor. ‘One of them was the KPK,’ replied the witness. The prosecutor was puzzled how Sisprian could obtain information that he was being monitored by the KPK, as a sting is a clandestine operation. ‘Could you please tell us who spilled this info?’ asked the prosecutor. ‘Friends around, Sir. But, with permission, Your Honour, this was partly the result of our analysis too. Because every time we finished a major enforcement action, we were immediately followed by an OTT, or an attempt to search our offices,’ answered the witness. The prosecutor also questioned the fear felt by Sisprian’s side that led him to warn Orlando to be cautious. The prosecutor stated that Sisprian should not have felt afraid if there was no wrongdoing. ‘If there is really nothing, why be afraid? This is a wise saying, if I may say so. Why did this fear arise?’ asked the prosecutor. ‘With permission, Your Honour, I mentioned earlier that I knew about the operational funds,’ the witness replied. The defendants in this trial are John Field as the head of Blueray Cargo (Group), Dedy Kurniawan Sukolo as the Operational Manager of Port Custom Clearance at Blueray Cargo (Group), and Andri as the Head of the Import Document Team at Blueray Cargo (Group). In this case, the KPK prosecutor indicted the three Blueray Cargo executives in a bribery case related to the importation of goods at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise. The KPK prosecutor stated that the three gave SGD 61.3 billion. In addition to cash, the three were also accused of providing a number of facilities and luxury goods worth up to IDR 1.8 billion.