Police raid illegal LPG station

Badung: Mengwi police raided an illegal Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) refueling station and arrested one suspect.

“The refueling station was located in Tamiang hamlet,” Mengwi police chief Adj. Comr. I Nyoman Suandi said Sunday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

The raid took place on Friday afternoon and involved uniformed and plain-clothes officers. The officers detained INS, 38, a native of Karangasem regency. INS is believed to be one of the workers at the illegal station, where they allegedly transferred the gas from the 3-kilogram LPG canisters to the 12-kilogram LPG canisters.

The 3-kilogram LPG canisters are sold at a subsidized price as part of the government’s campaign to reduce kerosene use among low-income households across the nation. There is a significant price margin between the subsidized canisters and the 12-kilogram LPG canisters and many unscrupulous traders have tried to exploit this margin by establishing illegal refueling stations.

“Our officers also seized 426 3-kilogram LPG canisters, all of which had been emptied out, as well as another 261 canisters of similar specification, the latter are still full of LPG,” he added.

The officers also confiscated 58 fully loaded 12-kilogram canisters and several pieces of equipment used to remove the gas from the canisters.