Hundreds of millions of cash smuggled to Singapore daily

Cash worth hundreds of millions of rupiah is being smuggled to Singapor daily, the Indonesian Navy said during a raid in Batam on Wednesday.

Based on the confession of the two perpetratos detained Wednesday, Batam naval base commander Col. Muhammad Faisal said, cash smuggling to Singapore had been carried out daily over the past three years.

The two, identified as Yong Peng and Toni, were caught red- handed carrying a combined of Rp 686 million (US$72,800) on board a ferry headed for Singapore. The immigration law says travelers are not allowed to carry more than Rp 100 million outside the country.

"They admitted that the money was supposed to be delivered to someone in Singapore," Faizal told reporters.

Faizal said navy investigators were still acquiring more information from the two detainees as they suspected that such practice was also being carried out by many other smuggler groups.