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Authorities foil lobster smuggling, warn of rampant trafficking
The West Java Customs and Excise Office announced on Wednesday that it had arrested three people for attempting to smuggle thousands of baby lobsters out of the country through a local airport, â further indication of the rampant trafficking of the protected crustacean
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he West Java Customs and Excise Office announced on Wednesday that it had arrested three people for attempting to smuggle thousands of baby lobsters out of the country through a local airport, ' further indication of the rampant trafficking of the protected crustacean.
Speaking to reporters in Bandung, West Java Customs and Excise Office head Marisi Zaenudin Sihotang said that his officers had arrested the three suspects ' identified as LWC, MIB and DA ' at the city's Husein Sastranegara International Airport on Oct. 18.
Officers, Marisi said, had moved to arrest the suspects after finding they were attempting to carry 30,000 baby lobsters on a commercial flight to Singapore's Changi International Airport.
'The passengers had placed [the baby lobsters] in six suitcases. Inside the suitcases, we found 176 bags of baby lobsters,' he said, adding that the value of the confiscated creatures was around Rp 1 billion (US$73,385).
During interrogation, the three suspects, who hail from Aceh, North Sumatra and West Java, said they had been paid by a third party a total of Rp 6 million to transport the suitcases.
'They also said it was the first time they had smuggled baby lobsters,' Marisi said, adding that local law enforcers were still trying to identify the mastermind behind the attempt.
In an attempt to fight overfishing, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry Susi Pudjiastuti issued a ministerial regulation earlier this year on the catching of lobsters, crabs and rajungan (a kind of small crab).
According to the regulation, only lobsters with an at least 8 centimeter-long carapace are allowed to be caught and traded. Meanwhile, crabs and rajungan measuring less than 15 centimeters in length and 200 grams in weight are prohibited from being caught and traded.
The prosecution and investigation director at the Finance Ministry's customs and excise directorate general, Harry Mulya, said law enforcers had, this month alone, foiled several attempts to smuggle baby lobsters overseas via commercial aircraft.
'The day before the arrest in Bandung, a similar attempt was foiled in Yogyakarta. Two days later, we had another case in Jakarta and one more in West Nusa Tenggara,' he said.
Harry said the three suspects would be charged with violating Article 102A of Law No.17/2006 on customs and excise, which carries a maximum punishment of 10 years' imprisonment.
'It also stipulates that [a convict] must pay between Rp 50 million and 5 billion in fines,' he said.
Earlier this month, officers from the Yogyakarta Fishing Quarantine Station foiled an attempt to smuggle lobsters worth more than Rp 6 billion.
The cargo of lobsters, which were not equipped with proper documents, were transported by two couriers to Yogyakarta's Adi Sutjipto airport to be sent to Singapore on an AirAsia flight.
Station head Suprayogi said he suspected the smugglers were part of a network that captured baby lobsters in eastern Indonesia.
'Since security at Bali and Surabaya airports has been tightened, perpetrators are attempting to smuggle through airports in Semarang, Yogyakarta and Bandung,' he said.
