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Indonesian Police crack down on massive distribution of bogus premium rice
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A worker moves a sack of rice at a warehouse belonging to the State Logistics Agency. (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)
T
he National Police are cracking down on the distribution of bogus premium rice after a company allegedly repackaged subsidized rice and rebranded it as premium rice.
The police’s food commodity task force on Thursday evening confiscated 1,161 tons of rice from a warehouse belonging to PT Indo Beras Unggul in Bekasi, West Java.
It is at this warehouse that the repackaging process allegedly took place.
Speaking at a press conference, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said Indo Beras had deceived customers by repackaging the IR 64-type rice, which is subsidized by the government, as premium rice under the brands Ayam Jago and Maknyus.
The rice was sold for around Rp 20,000 (US$1.50) per kilogram, more than double the price for IR-64 rice.
“The Agriculture Ministry sets the highest price for IR 64 rice at Rp 9,000 per kg,” Tito said, adding that the company had possibly violated the 1999 Customer Protection Law.
(Read also: Indonesia's rice self-sufficiency to be achieved by 2020)
Tito added that the alleged fraud had potentially harmed citizens and generated trillions of rupiah in losses.
The fraud was uncovered after the police’s food commodity task force examined the level of nutrient content in rice under different brands. It found that the nutrient content in rice under the implicated brands was below the standards for premium rice.
PT Indo Beras Unggul is a subsidiary of publicly listed food company Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food. (rdi/dea/hwa)
