Director General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision (PSDKP) Pung Nugroho Saksono stated in Lampung on Wednesday that the lobster seed smuggling case came to light after a tip-off from the public on illegal lobster seed shipments in the Lampung area.
"The arrest was made on Monday, December 9, 2024, in the Krui area, West Pesisir District in Lampung," Saksono remarked.
According to the PSDKP director general, the smuggled BBL would end up in Vietnam, which is known to have a large requirement for larvae for cultivation.
Saksono also revealed that the team from the Directorate General of PSDKP succeeded in foiling the smuggling of BBL, with the number estimated at 52,200, with an approximate value of Rp7.8 billion.
Saksono said his side secured evidence in the form of a four-wheeled vehicle containing 10 boxes of BBL carrying 43 thousand types of sand, seven thousand types of pearls, and 2,200 jarong types of sand along with two couriers with the initials AP and MAD.
"(In) the method, BBL came from one of the BBL collection warehouses in Bengkunat, West Pesisir District. The alleged perpetrator used the land route from Bengkunat to Krui and then directly to Jambi before being smuggled by sea to another country," he remarked.
He also explained that the thwarting of smuggling was in line with the implementation of the President of Indonesia's Astacita program, through the desk for prevention and eradication of smuggling chaired by the coordinating minister for political and security affairs.
"A refresher has been carried out on 51,951 BBL at the Lampung Provincial Marine Cultivation Center to be released in the Kelapa Kunjir Coastal Waters," he added.
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Translator: Riadi Gunawan, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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