Producers of fake mineral water arrested
Producers of fake mineral water arrested
JAKARTA (JP): West Jakarta police have smashed a syndicate of
producers and distributors of fake mineral water and arrested
four alleged lawbreakers.
"We finally arrested the four at a place used as a producing
plant at the Binong Permai housing complex in Tangerang last
Friday, after four months of hunting," West Jakarta Police Chief
Lt. Col. Hari Pribadi told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
The first two suspects, identified as Henry Handoyo, 36, and
Tjong Kuan Seng, alias Johanes, 38, are the main players behind
the counterfeiting of well-known mineral water brands.
The other two, identified only as Sg and Ag, are believed to
be the middlemen working for Henry and Johanes, said Hari.
According to Hari, the group may have over several months
distributed bottled water to both street and home consumers in
and around the city.
Police have confiscated hundreds of bottled water produced by
them from shops in Grogol, Pesing and Jembatan II area in West
Jakarta, Hari said.
"Although we haven't received any reports from consumers
outside the city, the fake products might also be found in other
cities in the country," he said.
Henry and Johanes owned a house in the Citra Garden housing
complex.
Groundwater
Hari said that the four-member group simply purified
groundwater before bottling it in used plastic bottles purchased
from scavengers.
The culprits then furnished the bottles with plastic packaging
bearing the brands of well-known products.
The plastic packaging was obtained by one of the suspects from
his workplace at a printing factory, said City Police Spokesman
Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna yesterday.
According to Iman, among the registered brands used by the
culprits were Aqua, A21, Aquarin and Asaba.
The bottled water seized by police contained tiny white
particles and thin sediment at the bottom of the plastic bottles,
Iman said.
The water was in different containers of various volume, such
as 500 milliliters, one liter and five gallons. It was then
distributed by Sg and Ag to a number of shops and street vendors
with prices slightly below the original products.
According to Hari, it was executives of Aquarin who first
reported the case to the police four months ago, after finding
fault with a number of bottles of Aquarin mineral water sold at
several shops in West Jakarta.
"We had been spying on a number of places believed to be used
as illegal mineral water outlets after receiving a report, but we
only identified one last week at the house in Tangerang," Hari
said.
Based on preliminary questioning, the suspects said that the
used bottles were purchased from scavengers at Rp 45 (two US
cents) per bottle and then cleaned with soap and chemical
substances to eliminate germs and odor, Hari said.
If found guilty, the suspects face a maximum penalty of seven
years in jail and a Rp 100 million fine each, as stipulated in
the Law of Registered Trademarks number 19 issued in 1992, and
Article 44 of the 1982 Copyrights Law, Hari said.
"The investigation is almost complete, and we'll send the
dossiers of the fours suspects to the local Prosecutor's Office
soon," he said.
Mineral water is widely consumed by many people of all
economic levels at home and work throughout the country. (bsr)