Head of Customs and Excise at Soetta Airport, Gatot Sugeng Wibowo, stated on Thursday that the alleged perpetrator, with the initials RM, claimed to be an Indian actor and Bollywood film producer.
"He said he came to Indonesia for a holiday," Wibowo remarked.
The animals brought by RM are two birds-of-paradise and an otter. This case was revealed by a joint team comprising members of the Customs, Aviation Security, and the Jakarta Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), he noted.
"Officers discovered smuggling of rare animal (species for) exports in the form of two birds-of-paradise and one otter in the luggage of a passenger bound for India," Wibowo stated.
On July 1, officers grew suspicious on seeing an X-ray image of a foreign passenger's suitcase with the baggage of Indigo Air flight number 6E 1602 bound for Mumbai, India.
Officers then took action and summoned the passenger to the boarding room for a luggage check.
"The rare animal was hidden in a suitcase disguised with various kinds of food, clothes, handbags, and children's toys," Wibowo remarked.
Wibowo explained that Appendix I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which requires a special permit for transportation of the species, is included in Law Number 5 of 1990 on Conservation of Living Natural Resources and Ecosystems, in addition to the attachment to Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. P.106 of 2018 concerning Protected Types of Plants and Animals.
Based on RM's statement, the goods and suitcase he was carrying were entrusted to him by an acquaintance, also an Indian, at Terminal 2 of the Soekarno-Hatta Airport to be handed over to someone.
Upon discovery of this case, the authority raised its status to the investigation stage, and RM has been named a suspect for alleged customs violations under Article 102A of Law Number 17 of 2006 on Amendments to Law Number 10 of 1995 concerning Customs, with maximum 10 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of Rp5 billion (US$296 thousand).
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Translator: Azmi Syamsul M, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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