Batam Customs patrols border to combat smuggling

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BATAM, RIAU ISLANDS (ANTARA) — Under the blazing midday sun, the skyscrapers of Singapore can be seen rising in the distance from the Indonesian city of Batam.

Even from a distance, the view of several buildings is enough to illustrate Singapore’s urban progress and busyness as a tourist and business destination.

Staff members of Batam Customs Marine Patrol Unit work on board the BC 20007 vessel. They are the main shield against the smuggling of illegal goods into the country.

Vulnerable to trafficking

The BC20007 was sailing on the Singapore Strait at a very fast speed, the gentle vibration of the engine and the roar of the waves interweaving into a calm yet alert rhythm.

Customs officials routinely use three main vessels for maritime patrols, one of which is the BC 20007. The ship’s crew takes turns patrolling the border waters between Indonesia and Singapore.

One of the police officers, Fatoni, said security measures in the Batam area still need to be strictly enforced. This is because Batam is one of the vulnerable areas for smugglers to bring illegal goods into Indonesia.

Batam Island, strategically located between the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, has been one of the hotspots for trafficking.

Batam is located on a busy international shipping lane. Its proximity to Singapore, one of the world’s busiest ports, makes it an ideal transit point for smuggling goods to Indonesia and vice versa.

In addition, another factor is that Batam and its surrounding areas are made up of small islands. If these islands are not monitored to the greatest extent possible, smugglers will have the opportunity to use unofficial ports that are difficult for the authorities to detect.

In addition, trade volume in the border area between Indonesia and Singapore is also quite high.

Batam, as a free trade zone, has a huge trade volume and a large number of ships entering and leaving the city’s port, providing opportunities for illegal trade.

These factors make it difficult for authorities to monitor and combat smuggling activities in Batam.

Meth contraband

After an hour’s sailing, the BC20007 ship briefly stopped at one of the small islands, which is the customs maritime patrol post.

Drug trafficking through Batam waters is one of the smuggling activities that customs patrol officers are most wary of.

An experienced captain, Fatoni and several crew members of the BC 20007 made history by stopping the largest ever shipment of drugs (1.6 tons of methamphetamine) smuggled into Indonesia.

At that time, the Customs Patrol suddenly received a call asking for surveillance of a ship suspected of carrying drugs, and this information was obtained from a Customs informant.

According to the information received by the investigation team, a blue fishing boat with cargo on board was found with Chinese characters printed on it.

The team then monitored the vessel for two weeks during its voyage from the Anambas Islands to the Natuna Islands.

Fatoni and his crew set out after sunset. However, the vessel with the above characteristics did not appear until 1 a.m. local time.

When the team was about to return to refuel and get food, the suspicious ship appeared.

Fatone and his crew decided to inspect the vessel. Although they encountered no resistance, the lack of cooperation from the crew and poor lighting conditions made the inspection difficult.

The boat was then towed to Sekupang for further inspection. With the help of a police dog (also known as a K-9), the police found 81 bags of methamphetamine behind a pile of ropes. It was found that the boat was from Taiwan.

challenge

After about half an hour’s rest and telling the story of intercepting 1.6 tons of drug smuggling, Fatone and the team returned to the BC20007 ship.

On the boat, the crew pointed to a gap between several small islands and explained that smugglers could use such a route to hide at night.

Many of these gaps in the Riau Islands are used as unofficial ports. The Riau Islands region, especially Batam, is indeed known as a smuggling hotspot due to the presence of several unofficial ports that are difficult to monitor.

According to Batam Customs, as of May 2024, there are 155 ports under the supervision of Batam Customs, including 12 official ports and 143 unofficial ports.

Customs classifies unofficial ports into several categories: 58 are high-risk ports, 32 are medium-risk ports, and 53 are low-risk ports.

To meet this challenge, Batam Customs has formed a rapid response team that can reach all areas in Batam within 30 minutes.

As a hotspot for illegal goods smuggling, the situation in Batam Island should be of serious concern.

However, the Batam Customs Maritime Patrol cannot rely solely on guarding the Indonesia-Singapore waters border. For this, cooperation with other law enforcement agencies is needed.

As of May 2024, Batam Customs reported having taken 233 actions against illegal goods with a total value of IDR 11.53 billion (approximately USD 708,000).

The 233 operations included 118 routine surveillance operations, 104 maritime surveillance operations, and 11 narcotics, psychotropic substances and precursors (NPP) surveillance operations, which were estimated to have caused the state up to IDR 15.47 billion (about USD 950,000) in losses.

Batam Customs foiled most of the illegal tobacco and alcoholic beverage smuggling cases.

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