Shock! 14 Tonnes of Expired Australian Lamb Meat Nearly Sold Before Eid in Jakarta-Tangerang Markets
Tangerang District, 17 March 2026 — Police have seized a total of 14 tonnes of expired frozen lamb meat from Australia that was suspected to be distributed to traditional markets in the Jakarta and Tangerang regions for public consumption ahead of Eid Al-Fitr 1447 Hijriah/2026 CE.
“This meat was planned to be distributed to traditional markets in the Jakarta and Tangerang areas, given that demand for meat is quite high,” said the Head of the Special Mobile Unit (Satresmob) of the Indonesian National Police Criminal Investigation Directorate (Bareskrim), Senior Police Commissioner Teuku Arsya Khadafi, quoted on Tuesday, 17 March 2026.
He stated that in revealing the case of 14 tonnes of expired imported meat, investigators had also established four suspects. Each of them 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 illegal food trading activities involving frozen lamb carcass meat imported from Australia that was suspected to be expired,” he said.
Based on the results of the enforcement operation by the Bareskrim Satresmob team, investigators successfully confiscated three trucks containing 9 tonnes of imported lamb meat from Australia suspected to have expired in the Kosambi warehouse area, Tangerang.
The investigator subsequently expanded the operation by taking action at two storage locations: Warehouse I at Poris Block B1, Batuceper, Tangerang City, and Warehouse 2 at Jalan Raya Serang No. 8, Cikupa, Tangerang Regency, Banten.
“From the results of that investigation, investigators from Sat Resmob secured 10 witnesses and pieces of evidence,” he said.
From the expanded investigation, the investigative team also managed to confiscate approximately 12.9 tonnes of expired lamb meat. Each batch of meat was transported using three box vehicles totalling 154 cartons with a total weight of 2,548.36 kilograms (kg), 157 cartons with a total weight of 2,411.69 kg, and 148 cartons with a total weight of 4,052.99 kg.
“But thankfully, with the information provided by the public, we from the Indonesian National Police were able to anticipate and prevent a large distribution, and we managed to secure everything,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Head of Subdivision I of the Special Crimes Directorate (Dit Tipidter) of Bareskrim Polri, Senior Commissioner Setyo K. Heriyanto, disclosed that of the total 14 tonnes of expired imported meat found, this represents the remainder of a total 24-tonne shipment sent from Australia since 2022.