Police seize two tons of smuggled garlic

Police seize two tons of smuggled garlic

JAKARTA (JP): Police announced yesterday that they have
arrested ten women for smuggling two tons of garlic through the
Tanjung Priok port, but released them later for undisclosed
reasons.

"We have freed the suspects after questioning them
intensively," Lt. Col. Latief Rabar, spokesman for the city
police.

The ten inang-inang (local slang for gutsy woman traders from
North Sumatra), identified only by their initials, were said to
have departed from Tanjung Pinang in the Riau province on July 16
aboard the Umsini carrier for Tanjung Priok, Jakarta.

Anonymous persons who claimed to have followed the ten women
contacted the Tanjung Pinang police, who then relayed the tip-off
to the Tanjung Priok police.

The women reportedly bought the garlic from a third party who
was believed to have smuggled the produce from Singapore.

In their efforts to avoid inspection by customs the women
packed the garlic in 45 bags. Each woman carried between four and
five bags. With such a ploy the suspects believed they could pass
through the security check at the Tanjung Priok port.

The Tanjung Priok police, who had already received the tip-
off, thoroughly searched the baggage of all passengers when the
ship anchored at around 4 p.m. on Monday.

Police found the garlic in the ten bags owned by the women.

Based on the findings, police detained the women for
questioning on charges of smuggling. The allegations were flatly
denied by the inang-inang. They insisted they had legally bought
the garlic from the Tanjung Pinang marketplace.

Police were however convinced that the garlic was not from the
market, but smuggled from abroad instead, since the goods were
not covered by the required documents.

The importation of garlic here is monopolized by two firms, PT
Sarana Hidup Sejahtera and PT Cempaka Putih.

"Their guilt is that they did not import the produce via the
association, which is acknowledged by the government," Latief
added. (jsk)