Police confiscate 265 tons of fuel

JAKARTA: The City Police have confiscated 265 tons of fuel, which they suspect was being hoarded in a house on Jl. Pengantin Ali, Ciracas, East Jakarta.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Ike Edwin said that the police confiscated the fuel after they raided the house on Monday.

He said they had not been able to find the owner, tentatively identified as Pasaribu, during the raid.

Eighty percent of the confiscated fuel was kerosene and the rest diesel fuel, all of which was stored in tanks and drums and valued at an estimated Rp 2.5 billion.

According to Edwin, if it is proven that the owner was hoarding the fuel, he could be charged with violating government regulation No. 22/2001 on oil and gas.

Article No. 53c of the regulation on hoarding carries a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment and a fine of Rp 3 billion. Article No. 50a on trading oil and gas illegally carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a fine of Rp 5 billion. --JP