Jakarta. Indonesia’s crackdown on used clothing imports continues, as the Jakarta Metropolitan Police recently seized a whopping 535 bales of illegal secondhand apparel. 

Jakarta Globe’s sister publication Beritasatu reported that the police had seized the said bales inside cars, as the clothes were about to be distributed into the market. Some were seized in warehouses.

The police have also named an importer, who goes by the initials OW, as a suspect. The 34-year-old OW would import secondhand apparel via international e-commerce, according to Auliansyah Lubis, an officer at the Jakarta Police special crime unit.

“So OW would import the secondhand clothing via the Alibaba e-commerce. Once the [imported] clothes arrive in Indonesia, OW would resell them. OW would also get the used apparel from several other importers. OW would tidy up the clothes and sell them,” Auliansyah said on Friday, 

OW was charged under the 2014 Law on Trade which carries a sentence of up to five years in prison under the 1999 Law on Consumer Protection. 

Similar raids also took place in other parts of Indonesia. On Friday night, the Jambi police and customs office raided a warehouse in Muaro Jambi regency. They seized at least 134 bales of secondhand apparel that would soon go into the thrifting market. 

Beritasatu also wrote that each bale was worth Rp 1 billion ($65,936) with a “GP Trading Co Made In Korea” label. The police are now attempting to catch the importer behind the warehouse, according to Beritasatu.

The Jambi police have also tightened security in a number of ports in the city. These imported secondhand apparel are most likely to have entered Jambi via illegal ports. 

Indonesia has banned imports of secondhand clothing. The Trade Law mandates importers to only bring brand new goods unless otherwise determined by the central government. Indonesia is now intensifying its crackdown on secondhand clothing following concerns that such imports can take a toll on the domestic textile industry.

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