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.