Navy foils fuel smuggling attempts over past months
Navy foils fuel smuggling attempts over past months
MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): The Indonesian Navy has caught
three tanker ships attempting to export fuel illegally over the
past three months, officials said.
Commander of the Navy's Eastern Fleet Commodore Ari Haryono
said here on Monday that the first two large tanker ships
weighing a total of 2,000 tons each were apprehended in waters
off riot-torn Tual in Maluku in January. The other ship was
caught in waters off Surabaya in the western part of East Java
earlier this month.
The commodore said that the tankers carried a mixture of
kerosene and diesel oil.
"The ships were all heading for Pontianak, the capital of West
Kalimantan, where they planned to move the fuel to foreign ships
pretending to be fishing boats," Ari said.
Meanwhile, Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Achmad Sutjipto
reiterated that the Navy is intensifying its patrols in the north
coastal areas as well as border areas such as the Malaka straits.
"It is impossible to watch all of our sea lanes but we will
try our best to guard areas prone to smuggling," the admiral
said.
Achmad assured that none of the military was involved in the
stockpiling of mixed fuel through the country's seas.
"The Navy is not involved in any fuel swindling. That goes
from the whole operational organization to the cooperatives,"
Achmad told media.
"But if there is any (Navy) member who commits such a
violation, I guarantee a firm punishment for her or him," the
admiral said.
Separately in the Bali capital of Denpasar, local police
arrested a man identified as I Gusti Ketut Surya Widana, 50, for
allegedly counterfeiting fuel coupons in a gasoline station.
Capt. Lukas Gunawan, chief of Denpasar police subprecinct said
the coupons were printed in Singaraja, about 120 kilometers north
of Denpasar.
"We are still hunting for another suspect," he said.
Each coupon is worth a nominal value of Rp 10,000 or 10 liter
of gasoline. "The suspect asked motorbike taxi ojek drivers to
help exchange the coupons for money," Lukas said.
The gas station has reportedly suffered more than Rp 1.4
million in losses due to the distribution of false coupons.
(27/zen/edt)