Navy Thwarts Smuggling of 10,000 Illegal Lobster Seeds, Suspects Flee

The Mataram Naval Base (Lanal Mataram) in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) has foiled an attempt to smuggle 10,000 illegal lobster seeds. However, the perpetrators of the inter-island smuggling operation managed to escape.

“The seizure of these illegal lobster seeds stemmed from a public tip-off about a shipment of illegal lobster seeds from Sumbawa to Lombok,” stated Lanal Mataram Commander, Lieutenant Colonel (P) Eko Darmawan, on Tuesday (28/7/2026).

Following coordination, officers initially received information that the undocumented package containing the lobster seeds had been transported to Poto Tano Port. The tens of thousands of lobster seeds were originally carried in a red Suzuki Splash car.

“The team received information that the sender of the undocumented lobster seed package had switched vehicles. The package was entrusted to a travel car and had already entered Poto Tano Port,” Darmawan said.

Officers subsequently inspected the travel car upon its arrival at Kayangan Port in East Lombok. There, they discovered the package containing the lobster seeds. However, as the package was being unloaded, the travel car fled.

“When the evidence was being unloaded, the travel car hit the gas. So, as soon as the package was taken out, the travel car sped off. Therefore, we have not yet apprehended the perpetrator. We are still investigating the suspect,” he explained.

Darmawan stated that the 10,000 lobster seeds, worth an estimated IDR 200 million, were found packed in 50 plastic bags, with each bag containing 200 seeds.

“The package of lobster seeds has been secured at the Lanal Mataram headquarters and will be released back into the wild in the waters off Senggigi, West Lombok,” he concluded.