Batam. Indonesian police have named 11 crew members from the Riau Islands province as suspects in a tin sand smuggling case involving 7.5 tons of the mineral, following their deportation from Malaysia.

The suspects were previously deported after crossing into Malaysian waters without authorization and were questioned upon their return to Indonesia, police said on Saturday.

Brig. Gen. Moch Irhamni, a director at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim), said the men were subjected to intensive questioning upon arrival in the Riau Islands over alleged mining-related crimes.

The 11 suspects, all residents of Belakangpadang Island in Batam and related to one another, were deported alongside 122 undocumented Indonesian migrant workers. Their repatriation was facilitated by the Indonesian Consulate General in Johor Bahru last Thursday.

The crew members were originally detained by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency in October 2025 for entering Malaysian waters without proper documentation. Malaysian authorities charged them with immigration violations and held them for three months in a detention facility.

Police escorted the suspects from Malaysia to the Batam Center international ferry terminal before taking them to the provincial police headquarters for further investigation. Authorities have not disclosed their identities.

Tin sand smuggling has been a recurring problem along maritime routes from the Riau Islands and Bangka Belitung, with numerous suspects arrested and vessels seized in recent years.

In October, President Prabowo Subianto announced the closure of around 1,000 tin mines in Bangka Belitung for operating without permits and allegedly smuggling tin sand overseas. The illegal activities, he said, had caused severe environmental damage and significant state losses due to unpaid taxes and lost export revenues.

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