Prison Staff Suspected of Involvement in Love Scamming from Inside Detention Centre, Here's Minister Agus's Firm Response

The Ministry of Immigration and Corrections (Kemenimipas) will delve internally into the involvement of its staff in the love scamming case carried out from within the Kotabumi Detention Centre (Rutan) in North Lampung by inmates.

“There is already suspicion that staff at that correctional institution (lapas) are involved; this will be examined internally. Then it will be synchronised with the examination by the Provincial Police (Polda) to confirm it,” said Minister of Imipas Agus Andrianto at the Lampung Provincial Police Headquarters (Mapolda), on Monday, 11 May 2026.

According to him, inmates or those under supervision should not be allowed to hold mobile phones or any communication devices inside the detention centre. He said the discovery of 156 mobile phones inside the detention centre raises questions.

“What I question is also why mobile phones can enter the detention centre. Therefore, I conveyed to the Lampung Police earlier that please uncover this case as widely as possible,” he said.

Agus continued that if there is still circulation of mobile phones in the detention centre, it does not rule out the possibility of rogue correctional institution staff there being involved.

“If there is involvement (of Imipas staff), just process it. We ask that this case be properly uncovered,” he said.

He also asked the public to be patient and believe that the case will not be covered up and that all those involved will be exposed openly.

“Rest assured, we will not cover up this case. If we wanted to cover it up, then the information from the beginning would not have been given to the Lampung Police,” he said.

It is known that the Lampung Provincial Police together with Kemenimipas uncovered the love scamming case orchestrated from within the Class II B Kotabumi Detention Centre, allegedly carried out by inmates.

In that case, the Lampung Provincial Police have examined 145 inmates at the detention centre and 137 inmates are suspected of being involved in the love scamming crime.