December 11, 2025 | 06:54 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Directorate General of Customs and Excise revealed that the East Coast of Sumatra has become a vulnerable area for smuggling. "Many illegal ports are located along the East Coast of Sumatra," said the Director General of Customs and Excise, Djaka Budhi Utama, in Jakarta on Thursday, December 11, 2025.
Djaka made the statement following Customs and Excise's announcement of their efforts to thwart illegal distribution activities during the first week of December 2025.
During the same occasion, Customs and Excise announced separate thwarting efforts on December 3, 2025, and December 10, 2025.
The first interception involved two trucks carrying allegedly imported branded clothing with origin labels indicating China and Bangladesh as the countries of origin. Customs and Excise thwarted the distribution of the illegal clothing on the Palembang-Lampung toll road on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.
During the Customs and Excise inspection, the two drivers admitted that they were only following orders to transport the trucks from Suban to Jakarta.
Meanwhile, the second interception was carried out on three containers that arrived at Sunda Kelapa Port, Jakarta, on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.
These three containers were transported by the Indah Costa cargo ship, which arrived at Kijang Port in the Riau Islands.
Out of the total containers, two contained illegal finished clothing products, while one contained four cigarette-making machines. Customs and Excise stated that they are still investigating the countries of origin of these illegal goods.
Djaka suspects that cases of smuggling illegal goods by truck or ship originate from activities through illegal ports along the east coast of Sumatra.
To prevent similar smuggling activities, Djaka said that Customs and Excise are conducting strict surveillance along the East Coast of Sumatra.
The areas under surveillance include Belawan, Tanjung Balai Asahan, Dumai, Jambi, and the Riau Islands. "We will closely monitor this," he said.
Djaka stated that Customs and Excise have a main operational base and several ships, and frequently patrol the waters of Sumatra and the East Coast of Sumatra.
Djaka also stated that Customs and Excise will conduct further investigations to identify those responsible for smuggling activities. This is because the perpetrators operate through intermediary drivers. "The drivers only receive messages via their phones when both vehicles are fully loaded, so we need further investigation to confirm the owners," he said.
Read: Indonesian Customs Considers Donating Seized Illegal Clothing to Disaster Victims
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