Police discover 14 tonnes of expired imported lamb destined for distribution
Tangerang District, Banten — The Criminal Investigation Body (Bareskrim) of the Indonesian National Police has discovered a total of 14 tonnes of expired frozen lamb imported from Australia that was allegedly intended for distribution to traditional markets in the Tangerang and Jakarta regions for public consumption ahead of Eid celebrations in 1447 Hijriah/2026 CE.
“This meat was planned to be distributed in traditional markets in the Jakarta and Tangerang areas, due to the high demand for meat,” said Teuku Arsya Khadafi, Head of the Mobile Crime Investigation Unit (Satresmob) of Bareskrim, at Tangerang District, Banten, on Monday.
He stated that in uncovering the case of 14 tonnes of expired imported meat, investigators have also named four suspects. The four suspects each had different roles: IY as the seller and owner of the expired meat, T (broker), AR (broker), and SS as the producer or buyer.
“This case originated from a report regarding a food trade activity involving imported lamb carcass meat from Australia that was suspected to be expired,” he said.
Based on enforcement operations, the Satresmob team of Bareskrim successfully seized three trucks containing 9 tonnes of imported lamb meat from Australia that was allegedly expired in the Kosambi warehouse area, Tangerang.
Subsequently, investigators conducted further searches at two storage locations: Warehouse I at Poris Block B1, Batuceper, Tangerang City, and Warehouse 2 at Jalan Raya Serang No.8, Cikupa, Tangerang District, Banten.
“From these investigations, investigators secured 10 witnesses and evidence items,” he said.
From the further investigation, the investigative team also seized approximately 12.9 tonnes of expired lamb meat. Each shipment was transported using three box vehicles containing 154 boxes with a total weight of 2,548.36 kilograms (kg), 157 boxes with a total weight of 2,411.69 kg, and 148 boxes with a total weight of 4,052.99 kg.
“However, thanks to information provided by the public, we from the police were able to prevent further distribution and secure everything,” he said.
Meanwhile, Setyo K. Heriyanto, Head of the First Subdivision of the Directorate of Special Crimes at Bareskrim, stated that of the total 14 tonnes of expired imported meat discovered, it was the remainder of a total of 24 tonnes of meat shipped from Australia since 2022.
“From the 24 tonnes, 14 tonnes remained unsold and expired, and were then resold by the suspect,” he said.
Based on questioning of suspect IY (the meat seller), the imported lamb product was resold in February and March 2026, with the assistance of intermediaries AR and T, who sold 1.6 tonnes of meat to a buyer with the initials SS at a price of 80,658,000 rupiah, or 50,000 rupiah per kilogram.
As for the profit obtained by suspects T and AR, approximately 40 million rupiah was earned as intermediaries in the sale of the expired lamb meat.
“To sell expired lamb meat on the market, approximately 100 kg were sold at prices ranging from 81,000 to 85,000 rupiah per kilogram,” he said.
For their actions, the suspects are charged under Article 8 paragraph (3) in conjunction with Article 62 paragraph (1) of Law Number 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection and/or; Articles 90, 135, and/or 140 of Law Number 18 of 2012 on Food, and Law Number 6 of 2023 on the Establishment of a Government Regulation in Lieu of Law Number 2 of 2022 on Job Creation.
“The criminal penalty imposed is a maximum prison sentence of 5 years or a maximum fine of 2 billion rupiah,” he said.