BATAM, OCT 14 – The Batam Customs Office thwarted the smuggling of 266,600 crayfish juveniles in the waters of Bintan, Riau Islands, with a total value of 26.9 billion rupiah (US$1.6 million), the Indonesian News Agency (Antara) reported.
In a statement on Sunday, the head of the office, Zaky Firmansyah, said the operation began with a report about a high-speed ship suspected of smuggling crayfish fry to Malaysia on Saturday.
“Based on the information, a team is monitoring the ship,” he added.
He stated that the team successfully foiled the smuggling attempt and seized a vessel carrying 266,600 crayfish juveniles in 53 boxes.
According to Firmansyah, smugglers switched from operating at night to daytime.
“Our team has anticipated this by constantly conducting routine patrols and other surveillance measures,” he said.
Smuggling baby crayfish is prohibited under the law, carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of five billion rupiah (US$309,000).
The crayfish hatchlings that were confiscated were then released back into the waters of the Riau Islands, Firmansyah reported.
On September 3, Customs released 275,000 baby crayfish into Batam city waters. The suspect was arrested during a joint operation with the Coast Guard in the waters near Topang Island.
A week before that, Customs also foiled the smuggling of 177,300 baby crayfish worth 17.7 billion rupiah (US$1 million) in the waters of Pulau Pengelap and Pulau Abang. – Named
