Karimun, Batamnews - The Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) of the Riau Islands (Kepri), managed to thwart the smuggling of 12,500 baby lobsters to Singapore. This failure was carried out around the waters before the Batam-Singapore border, Friday (11/5/2021).

The baby lobster was loaded in styrofoam which was carried by a begging boat.

The Head of the Riau Islands DJBC Regional Office, Akhmad Rofif, said that the illegal activities were carried out by ship to ship around Batam waters.

This is because when departing from the starting point, the perpetrator uses a fishing rod which is usually used by fishermen, or the general public who travels between islands.

"Then, at the point near the border of a neighboring country, the perpetrators changed the ship type to HSC, so that it was difficult for the Customs patrol boat to catch up," said Rofiq.

However, before being able to transfer to the HCS ship, the officer who had sniffed the beheading boat tried to stop it.

However, knowing the presence of officers, the boat fled to avoid the officers and ran aground the boat to the coast. The perpetrators who were on the boat also fled and the officers lost track of the perpetrators.

"Aware of not being able to keep up with the speed of the patrol boat, the beheading ship was then run aground by the perpetrators on one of the islands around Batam waters. After running aground the ship, the perpetrators fled," he said.

From the ship that ran aground, officers then checked the cargo, and it was certain that the cargo was baby lobster seeds.

Because it involves vulnerable commodities, officers do not waste time. Patrol officers immediately took the cargo to the Riau Islands Customs Office for inspection.

The examination of evidence is carried out together with the authorized agencies, namely the Fish Quarantine Agency, Quality Control and Safety of Fishery Products (BKIPM) Tanjung Balai Karimun, and PSDKP Tanjung Balai Karimun.