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Police foil transnational rooster-smuggling operation in North Sulawesi

A joint team comprising personnel of the North Sulawesi Police and the National Police’s water police directorate secured on Wednesday 59 undocumented roosters from the Philippines at Peta Port on the island.

Agustinus Hari (The Jakarta Post)
Manado, South Sulawesi
Fri, February 7, 2020

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Police foil transnational rooster-smuggling operation in North Sulawesi On display: Roosters are lined up at a market. (JP/Tarko Sudiarno)

Authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle dozens of Philippines-bred roosters for cockfighting on Sangihe Island, North Sulawesi, which shares a border with the Philippines.

A joint team comprising personnel of the North Sulawesi Police and the National Police’s water police directorate secured on Wednesday 59 undocumented roosters from the Philippines at Peta Port on the island.

Comr. Ekanto, the commander of the police’s security maintenance agency’s (Baharkam) Prahasta 7015 fleet, said that the roosters were transported by a man identified as Sugono Bentelu. He was arrested and named a suspect in the case.

“We have brought the suspect to Bitung Water Police headquarters for further investigation,” Ekanto said in Manado on Wednesday.

Sugono was en route to Peta Port from Tinakareng Island, located on the Indonesia-Philippines border, when security personnel stopped him. He failed to show health permits or other licenses for the roosters to the police. 

“I was paid Rp 4 million [US$ 292] to deliver the roosters, which were brought by a Philippine citizen to Tinakareng,” Sugono said. 

Police identified the buyer as an individual named Leksi B. Wulur, who had formerly been a witness in smuggling cases. Leksi claimed that he had been running the business for 10 years, but this was the first time for law enforcers to prosecute him.

In running his business, Leksi had to go to several islands to find high-quality Philippines-bred roosters. For example, he bought dozens of roosters brought by a Philippines citizen to the location. The price for each rooster ranged from Rp 1.5 million (US$109.54) to Rp 2 million. Leksi later sold the roosters for Rp 3 million each.

“The roosters are still tagged, showing they came from a farm in the Philippines,” he said.

He claimed he was unaware about license permit requirements for delivering roosters. Leksi went on to say that he had only obtained a letter from the village chief stating that he bought the roosters from a certain village.

Ekanto said such smuggling operations were common on islands located on the border between Indonesia and the Philippines. The roosters, often used for cockfighting, are unloaded on Nipa Island, Sangihe before being taken to Peta Port.

He dismissed a circulating rumor saying a police officer was involved in the smuggling.

This smuggling case was the biggest case uncovered by the police in the area this year, since the authorities have difficulty in tracking down the smugglers.

The police charged Sugono with violating the 2019 Animal, Fish and Plant Quarantine Law, which carries a maximum punishment of 10 years’ imprisonment and Rp 10 billion in fines. (dpk)

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