KPK Urged to Eradicate Import Mafia

Counter-intelligence analysis specialist R. Gautama Wiranegara has urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to expose the masterminds behind import corruption. He argued that the public should not be trapped in a narrative that focuses solely on the recipients of money. According to him, in corruption cases related to import trade governance, the primary focus should not just be on who received envelopes, but rather on who possesses the ability to influence decisions within the national import chain. “Import corruption does not operate in a vacuum. It lives within a system involving many institutions, many permits, many stages, and many actors. Therefore, the main question is not who received the money, but who is capable of controlling the process,” Gautama stated on Monday, 22 June 2026. He noted that the national import chain involves various agencies, from the Ministry of Trade, BPOM, Quarantine, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, to port operators and shipping companies. In such a lengthy system, it is very difficult to imagine that all conditioning occurred at just one bureaucratic node. Court facts have also begun to show that the alleged flow of funds is not only related to individuals within the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC). Several names linked to officials at BPOM and the Ministry of Trade have emerged during the reading of investigation reports in court. However, the main focus of the investigation remains on the case originating from the initial sting operation. Gautama cautioned that in the world of counter-intelligence, there is a phenomenon known as partial network capture, where authorities manage to apprehend part of a network but fail to identify all the nodes that influence the system. As a result, field operatives, methods, and even some money flows are exposed, but the centre of influence and the mechanisms that allow the practice to continue remain untouched. “If only the people who receive money are exposed, while the mechanism that keeps the money flowing is not addressed, then the system will produce new perpetrators. The people may change, but the modus operandi remains the same,” he said. He assessed that the KPK’s biggest challenge now is not just proving the giving of money to certain individuals, but explaining how a network is able to influence the process of risk assessment, goods inspection channels, document review, and the various permits required in import activities.