Police to launch probe into car smuggling

Police to launch probe into car smuggling

Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Police vowed on Friday to extend its investigation
into a nation-wide ring of luxury car smuggling following a case
which allegedly involved one of its senior officers.

"We are serious in dealing with car smuggling," National
Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said after Friday prayers in
Jakarta.

"We will look into the case thoroughly to see whether
administrative flaws or abuse of power have been involved in the
smuggling. A team of investigators led by the inspector general
is handling the case."

Da'i was commenting on irregularities in the issuance of
temporary vehicle ownership documents for 11 Mercedes Benz cars
reportedly smuggled from Singapore by Comr. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb at
the end and after his term as South Sulawesi Police chief last
year.

The National Police has set up a team of investigators headed
by Inspector General Comr. Gen. Ahwil Luthan, which is slated to
question Sofjan on Wednesday.

Speculation has been rife that the probe into Sofjan has much
to do with his legal dispute with Da'i over mandatory retirement
age.

Da'i also said on Friday he would check into rumors of the
alleged involvement of a family member of West Java Police chief
Insp. Gen. Sudirman Ail in the car smuggling ring. Ail was former
National Police deputy chief of detectives.

Like Sofjan and Ail, each provincial police chief is allowed
to issue temporary vehicle documents, which are effective for up
to three months, for security reasons. Da'i said he did not
remember whether he had ever exercised this power when he headed
the East Java Police chief a few years ago.

Separately, National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward
Aritonang said the police were intensifying their investigation
into two luxury car suppliers, believed to have been smuggling
cars for years and supplying them to senior police officials.

While Edward would not identify the alleged smugglers, sources
at National Police Headquarters said the men had been running the
racket since the mid-1980s, and had supplied cars, ranging from
BMWs to Mercedes Benzes, to scores of police officials including
generals. The police sources referred to the alleged smugglers as
AH and Chan.

Rumors have it that the Toyota Crown used by Da'i was one of
the luxury cars smuggled into Indonesia via diplomatic lines by
AH.

But Aritonang flatly denied this. "The car was purchased using
the state budget, and we bought it from a colleague. Everything
was legal here," Aritonang told reporters.

Should a car be brought into the country for a foreign embassy
via diplomatic lines, then with official permission from Customs
and Excise it is exempted from import duty.

National Police sources have agreed that this method has often
been used by smugglers to bring in cars from overseas, but none
of the sources wanted to comment on whether Chan or AH used
diplomatic lines to smuggle the cars into the country.

The sources stated that one of Sofjan's personal luxury car
suppliers, Chan, had maintained a close relationship with Sofjan
since he was chief of the Simalungun police precinct in North
Sumatra.

"Chan owns several car showrooms as well as at least one
discotheque. Sofjan really cared for this man ... when Chan asked
him to carry out raids on rival discotheques, Sofjan would order
the raids," one of the sources said.

The South Sulawesi provincial legislative council is also due
to summon Sofjan for clarification over the irregularities.