Jambi police's marine unit arrested four suspects at the scene of crime — the warehouse's head, a driver, and two workers, Jambi Police chief, Insp.Gen. Albertus Rachmad Wibowo, said here on Wednesday.
Located in an uncrowded area of Telanaipura subdistrict, the house, equipped with air-conditioning, was being used as a warehouse for storing the larvae of pearl and sand lobsters before smuggling them to the targeted countries, he informed.
Police officers also found several modified ponds, plastic bags for packing, and two cars frequently used for transporting the lobster larvae to a seaport, he said.
A total of 127 thousand larvae of pearl lobsters and 2,466 larvae of sand lobsters were meant to be smuggled using illegal routes via the waters of several districts in Jambi province, such as Tanjung Jabung Barat and Tanjung Jabung Timur, he added.
The promise of huge profits has been luring people into the illegal lobster larvae trade.
In September, 2019, for instance, two people in Bali Island were caught trying to smuggle about 60 thousand larvae of pearl and sand lobsters to Vietnam.
The suspects, who were nabbed at a motel in Sidakarya village, Denpasar, were identified by their initials as ERA, 26, and ATH, 35, according to chief of the Bali Marine Police Force, Sen. Coms. Hadi Purnomo.
ERA functioned as a courier, while ATH was a financier who was involved in a transaction of Rp95 billion through a bank's automated teller machine, he said.
The suspects procured the lobster larvae from West Nusa Tenggara province to smuggle them to Vietnam. However, the larvae package was not declared at the Customs at Ngurah Rai International Airport, from where it was to be dispatched to Vietnam via Singapore.
The total financial losses that Indonesia could have suffered had the 36 thousand larvae of sand lobsters been smuggled was estimated at Rp9 billion, while the smuggling of 24 thousand larvae of pearl lobsters could have led to losses to the tune of Rp7.2 billion.
Police also confiscated a vehicle, 150 plastic bags containing about 60 thousand larvae of pearl and sand lobsters as evidence, he said. (INE)
Related news: DJBC foils attempt to illegally export lobster seeds to Vietnam
Related news: KPK arrests fisheries minister over export licensing of baby lobsters
EDITED BY INE
Translator: Nanang M, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
