JAKARTA: A joint team comprising personnel from the Finance Ministry, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and the National Police has thwarted attempts to smuggle lobster seeds worth billions of rupiah from Indonesia to Singapore and Vietnam.
“There’s good news. Attempts to smuggle 404,385 lobster seeds with potential financial losses of Rp 33.15 billion [US$2.55 million] to the state have been thwarted,” said Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said as quoted by kompas.com at her office in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The minister said the three state agencies conducted the operations in several points across Indonesia. “We took legal measures against the smuggling syndicates across Batam, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, and in several fish auction markets. The Customs and Excise Office also foiled smuggling attempts during sudden inspections at Tanjung Priok Port,” said Susi.
She further said the smuggling activities had inflicted huge financial losses upon Indonesia’s fishing communities because they caught lobsters only after they were ready for harvest. “As they have taken the seeds, it’s getting difficult for our fishermen to find large lobsters,” said Susi. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati appreciated the results of the joint operation.
“This is the second time for me as a finance minister to work together with the maritime affairs and fisheries minister to jointly support smuggling prevention. It will continue,” she said.
