JAKARTA: The Western Fleet Quick Response team (WFQR) of Tanjungpinang navy base foiled an attempt to smuggle goods allegedly originating from Singapore.
Commander of the Lantamal IV/Tanjungpinang First Admiral S Irawan said that the smuggled goods were transported aboard motor vessel Bima Sakti. “We detained them last night,” Irawan said.
The Indonesian-flagged vessel had become the target of WFQR operations as it had allegedly committed the crime for many times before. According to Irawan, the goods were initially transported in a bigger ship, and to cover up the crime, the goods were later transferred to smaller vessels at sea, before entering Batam.
It was then loaded to a bigger ship again and transported to some regions in Indonesia. Based on preliminary investigation, he said, the authority found some violations including lack of necessary licenses for crews and legal documents of the ship as well as its cargo.
“The cargo that were not listed in the ship’s manifest are 44 spring beds, 4 sofa, 4 dining tables, 9 sacks of bags, 55 car seats, 2 trucks of home appliances, and 50 sacks of blankets,” he said.
Irawan has instructed the team to conduct a thorough investigation into the ship’s cargo, to detect possible drugs. The authority has conducted urine test for ship’s captain and its crews to check possible drug consumption.
