Five Cirebon officials to be probed over car smuggling

Five Cirebon officials to be probed over car smuggling

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon

The prosecutor's office in Cirebon will grill five customs
officials in the city as part of an investigation into the
alleged smuggling of 19 containers containing luxury cars and
electronic goods from Singapore.

Iskamto, chief of the prosecutor's office, said the five
officials allegedly involved in the smuggling operation were
Jusrial Chaniago, former head of the custom I section at the
office, Bambang Tri Hono, former head of the manifest and
information section, Erman Hanas, former head of the custom II
section and Giarto and Masri Abdullah, both deputies to the
custom heads.

The five have been transferred to other provinces for unclear
reasons. Jusril was moved to Yogyakarta, Bambang was transferred
to Medan, North Sumatra, Ermas to Jakarta while the two junior
officials were moved to Pasuruan, East Java, and Ambon, Maluku,
respectively.

"We have delivered a letter for questioning to the five
officials and they will be taken by force to undergo the
investigation should they fail to meet the call," he told
reporters here on Thursday.

Customs have not charged a single person in connection with
the smuggling attempt, raising eyebrows.

The crime was foiled on Jan. 10, 2002 when the cargo ship MV
Santosa Jaya, flying a Panamanian flag, brought in 19 containers
ordered by PT Tiang Grage. The containers contained six luxury
cars and thousands of units of electronic goods, all worth a
total of Rp 20.5 billion.

However, the containers, which were under the supervision of
the customs and excise office, disappeared in February, but were
found later after criticisms from the regency legislature and
local non-governmental organizations.

Iskamto said his office has held Soenarko Kasidin, president
of PT Tiang Grage, as sole suspect in the case, but his dossier
has been returned to the custom and excise office because of a
lack of evidence.

He said it was the third time the prosecutors had returned the
dossier, indicating that the custom and excise office officers
were not professional in conducting the investigation.