Sugar smugglers operate unhindered: NGO

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan

The North Sumatra People's Transparency Coalition has said that an eight-member mafia is behind the large-scale smuggling of sugar through the Tanjung Balai and Belawan ports.

The coalition, comprising eight non-governmental organizations, said the mafia had been operating in North Sumatra for a long time virtually undisturbed by the authorities.

Coalition coordinator Edi Rianto identified the eight alleged members of this sugar smuggling mafia by their initials: AB, Ahk, HS, BD, HU, EO and AT. He added that most of the sugar smugglers were active in Tanjung Balai, about 250 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital Medan.

They are involved in smuggling large amounts of sugar from Malaysia and Thailand into the country, Edi said on Tuesday.

Edi said the group was aided by officials in the local customs and excise offices, as well as port authorities.

"Our team recently observed hundreds of tons of illegally imported sugar from Malaysia being transported at midnight by some 100 trucks from Tanjung Balai heading toward Medan, Rantau Prapat, Padang Sidempuan, Kisaran and Tebing Tinggi," he said.

He said the coalition had conducted a lengthy investigation into sugar smuggling at the Tanjung Balai and Belawan ports.

The team was equipped with video cameras to record all of the smuggling activities at the ports, Edi said.

"We have turned over all of our findings, including material evidence, to the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta. We urge the police immediately to follow up on this matter," he said.

Edi said he had received death threats from a suspected member of the mafia while he was in Jakarta filing the report.

In response to complaints of smuggling at Belawan and Tanjung Balai ports, local customs officials said they were doing everything in their power to deal with the problem but the smugglers were smart enough to evade the authorities.

The head of the prevention and investigation section at the Belawan Customs Office, Cerah Bangun, said his office was cooperating with the police to deal with the smugglers.

When asked to confirm the activities of an organized group of sugar smugglers, North Sumatra Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Bambang Prihady said the police had uncovered at least 53 cases of illegally imported sugar since January this year.

It is unlikely that members of the mafia are not involved in at least some of these cases being investigated by the police, he said.

"We hope the investigations can lead to evidence of their involvement. The police cannot arrest anybody without evidence," Bambang said.

He acknowledged that the incidence of smuggling had dramatically increased in North Sumatra over the past several years.

During an operation last year, the North Sumatra Police arrested 16 suspects in 15 smuggling cases, he said.

Edi Rianto said his coalition appreciated what the police had done so far in dealing with smuggling, but questioned why only low-level criminals had been arrested.

The police should not operate on the principle of "catching the minnows and letting the snappers go", he said.

"We ask the police not to discriminate in making arrests, because in all the smuggling cases that they have handled none of the masterminds have been arrested, only the drivers or ship crew members," he said.