National

Indonesian Navy Unravels Smuggling of 15,000 Tons of Sugar
Tuesday, 26 April, 2005 | 10:55 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:: The Indonesian Navy has arrested a Singaporean ship and crew, suspected to have transported tens of thousands of tons of illegal sugar.

“This is the biggest seizure that the Navy has ever made of illegal sugar smuggling,” TNI Navy Western Maritime Fleet spokesman Lt. Col. Eddy Fernandy told Tempo (26/04).

The Singaporean ship, Asian Premier, transporting 15,550 tons of sugar, was seized by Indonesian ship Lemadang-806 from TNI Navy Western Maritime Fleet Maritime War Unit in the waters near Natuna Tambelan island on Saturday (23/04).

“When questioned, the ship’s crew could not show either who imported the sugar or any license to enter these waters,” said Fernandy.

According to the ship’s crew, they were transporting the sugar from Thailand to Surabaya. The ship is being detained at Tanjung Priok port.

Seven crew members of the Asian Premier are Indonesians and the rest are Thai citizens.

“We’ve arrested the crew, confiscated the smuggled goods (on board the ship) and if they are found guilty, the smugglers could receive five-year jail sentences,” said
Fernandy.

He stated that the Indonesian Navy has obtained information about the smuggling from various sources.
“Our ship was conducting a patrol and the situation enabled us to carry out the raid following information received,” said Fernandy. (Agus Supriyanto-Tempo News Room)