Customs and excise officers at the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Badung arrested one man Tuesday - identified as KS - and seized 519 cardboard boxes of imported liquor bottles labelled with counterfeited duty stamps in a warehouse.
The Customs and Excise office estimated the illegal liquor seized would end up costing the government around Rp 8.7 billion (US$800,000) in lost revenues due to unpaid taxes, if the liquor bottles hit the streets.
"The figure includes Rp 8.6 billion for import-related fees and Rp 100 million for the duty imposed on liquors," head of the office's investigation and enforcement unit Bagus Endro Wibowo said.
Bagus said his office received a tip off about the liquor cargo a week before the officers finally raided the warehouse Thursday.
"After we got the information, we monitored the area around the warehouse," said Bagus.
"When we were positive those cardboard boxes were filled with illegal imported liquor bottles, we stormed into the warehouse on April 16."
However, he remained vague when asked about the warehouse's precise location.
"It is in Badung, next to a road," he said.
In the warehouse, the officers found 10 cardboard boxes of imported liquor bottles stored in a truck with license plate number T 120 SS, as well as another 509 cardboard boxes containing liquor and 59 duty stamps.
The 519 cardboard boxes contained 5,555 bottles of liquor, while each box contains 4 liters of liquor.
"The products are all owned by KS," said Bagus.
In the raid, the officers immediately noticed the duty stamps on the boxes were counterfeit.
"They looked like they had been fabricated by photocopying the original stamps," said Bagus.
"Moreover, the genuine ones usually glow under direct light, these ribbons don't."
Moreover, Bagus added, the officers were more convinced the stamps and the liquors were illegal after the suspect admitted he attached the ribbons on his own.
"PT. Sarinah is the only licensed liquor importer in Indonesia and the only party that has the permission to label the liquor bottles with stamps," he said.
KS admitted he obtained the liquor bottles from a Jakarta-based supplier CS and a Surabaya-based supplier RB.
KS sourced the fake duty stamps from a person identified as YD, a resident of Surabaya, East Java.
The Customs and Excise investigation team is conducting further research to apprehend the other suspects.
If KS is found guilty, he will be sentenced to prison for eight years maximum and will have to pay a fine of up to 20 times the amount of unpaid taxes.
Bagus said the ongoing scarcity of imported liquors in the resort island might have boosted such smuggling.
"I believe not all hotels or bars would inspect the liquors' duty stamps before making the purchase," he said.
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|