he passenger vessel KM Agil Pratama, set to depart from Manado in North Sulawesi to North Maluku, was help up by the police for transporting bootleg liquor, known by its name cap tikus, or “rat brand”.
Because of the delay, hundreds of passengers were stranded at Manado Port and some canceled the trip and returned home.
“Our team, led by Second Insp. Talib, confiscated 59 boxes of cap tikus on the vessel, captained by Santos Ambat. Each box contains 24 bottles,” North Sulawesi Police officer Sr. Comr. Marjuki said on Wednesday in Manado.
Marjuki said the police had found that the liquor belonged to three crew members of the ship, namely Alfon Yosep, Alfred Ambat and Meksi Ladi.
The vessel was set to travel to Jailolo, Ternate, Sanana and Mangoli in North Maluku.
“My family canceled the trip to Ternate because of this,” passenger Herny Palit said.
Cap tikus is a generic name for a traditional form liquor made from palm sugar. The alcohol content ranges from between 30 percent and 60 percent.
“The market price in Manado is about Rp 30,000 [US$2.30] for a 600 milliliter bottle. They sell it in Maluku and Papua for Rp 100,000, so I am not surprised this kind of thing is still rampant, even though the police routinely raid bootleg liquor distributors,” Herny said. (evi)
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