Jakarta. The government reported that it had busted smuggling operations with transactions totaling Rp 49 billion ($3 million) within just one week alone.

The government has made 283 counter-smuggling operations on Nov. 4-11. These operations had stopped smuggling attempts that could potentially cause Indonesia to lose Rp 10.3 billion. Some of these confiscated items included tobacco and textiles, among others, according to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani.

“We have also busted [smuggling attempts] for garments, electronics, alcohols, and narcotics,” Sri Mulyani told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday.

The Customs and Excise office reported that it had taken 31,275 actions against smuggling attempts so far this year as of November. It has prevented goods worth Rp 4.6 trillion from entering Indonesia, many of these items are textiles.

According to Chief Security Minister Budi Gunawan, the smuggling transactions amounted to Rp 216 trillion over the past four years. The flood of smuggled goods has taken a toll on locally manufactured products as they now have to compete with their foreign-made counterparts.

These statistics -- particularly on the heavily smuggled textiles -- painted a grim picture of the Indonesian domestic industry. Imported textiles are typically sold cheaper than their domestically produced counterparts. As local companies struggle with sales, many decide to cut their workforce.

The Confederation of the Indonesian Trade Unions reported that the domestic textile industry had laid off at least 13,800 workers so far this year as of June. The association also blamed the massive layoffs on imports. 

Textile giant Sritex not long ago got a bankruptcy ruling, and had recently decided to furlough 2,500 employees. The company, however, promised to keep these workers on payroll. Both the government and Sritex have also promised that the 50,000 workers under its wing would not lose their jobs.

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