NTT Provincial Police Designate 40 Suspects in Subsidised Fuel Hoarding Case
The Nusa Tenggara Timur Provincial Police (Polda NTT) have designated 40 suspects in a case of hoarding subsidised fuel oil (BBM) types including diesel, kerosene, and Pertalite in several districts.
“In this law enforcement action, 40 individuals have already been examined, all of whom have the potential to become suspects,” stated the Director of Special Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimsus) of Polda NTT, Commissioner Hans Rachmatulloh Irawan, during a press conference at the Polda NTT headquarters on Tuesday (5/5/2026).
Hans explained that the case was uncovered in February 2026 after National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo ordered a crackdown on fuel and gas mafias. In that period, Ditreskrimsus Polda NTT handled 27 police reports.
These 27 reports consisted of five at Ditreskrimsus Polda NTT, and two each at Kupang Police Resort, Sikka, West Manggarai, and West Sumba. Meanwhile, other subordinate police resorts each had one police report.
Hans clarified that these dozens of reports are still in process because designating suspects requires expert testimony in Jakarta. Polda NTT is also sending forensic laboratory results related to these trading cases.
Police have seized several pieces of evidence in this case, such as motorcycles, 18 cars, and two trucks. They also confiscated BBM, namely 6,325 litres of Pertalite, 9,675 litres of diesel, 105 litres of kerosene, 383 jerrycans, six drums, one sampan, as well as documents and money.
Based on the seized evidence, the state losses for Pertalite amount to Rp 63 million, diesel Rp 65 million, and kerosene Rp 420,000. However, Hans noted, there is also a calculation of potential state losses.
These state losses are calculated based on the number of litres per month multiplied by the duration of the hoarding. Thus, based on that formula, Pertalite losses are around Rp 9.8 billion plus, diesel around Rp 358 million plus, and kerosene Rp 2.5 million plus. The total exceeds Rp 10.1 billion.
“Why I mention potential state losses is because they carried out (the hoarding), not just once, but during the investigation, they had committed the criminal act repeatedly,” Hans remarked.
In addition, Hans said that some were caught while collecting BBM, but others had already started hoarding and distributing to their customers. “Some might have just filled up that day and accumulated a certain number of litres when caught. Yet that same day they had already filled more than that,” Hans explained.
Hans stated that the dozens of suspects are charged under Article 55 of Law Number 22 of 2001 on Oil and Earth Gas (Migas) in conjunction with the Job Creation Law and adjustments to the New Criminal Procedure Code, with threats of six years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rp 60 billion.
The Head of Operations Bureau (Karo Ops) of Polda NTT, Commissioner Jhony Afrizal Sharifudin, added that the law enforcement aims to ensure the distribution of subsidised BBM reaches the needy public and is not misused by individuals or groups.
“This firm action is a direct implementation of President Prabowo Subianto’s asta cita programme, particularly to strengthen energy resilience and secure the state’s natural resources,” Jhony explained.