Jakarta. Indonesia’s Customs and Excise Directorate General has uncovered four illegal import cases involving rice, salt, and used clothing, with the seized goods valued at an estimated Rp27.3 billion ($1.53 million).

The enforcement operations took place between August and September in the Malacca Strait, Tanjung Perak Port in East Java, Bogor, and Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Customs and Excise Director General Djaka Budhi Utama said Tuesday.

Authorities seized 30 containers of rice and salt that did not match their customs declarations, along with 1,435 bales of suspected used clothing, Djaka said at a press conference in Jakarta.

Investigators identified several suspected methods of concealment, including misdeclaring goods, using identical packaging for different products and arranging cargo to hide the actual contents.

At Tanjung Perak Port, 15 containers from India were declared to contain 413,406 kilograms of ammonium chloride. Inspections found 202,450 kilograms of rice and 211,000 kilograms of salt, with a combined estimated value of Rp7.85 billion.

The investigation subsequently led authorities to Bogor, where another 15 containers were declared to contain chemical salt for leather tanning.

Finari Manan, head of the West Java Customs and Excise regional office, said the rice and salt were packed in identical bags, while the salt was placed at the front of the containers to conceal the rice behind it.

Customs officials also seized 1,435 bales of used clothing in two separate operations.

Authorities confiscated 430 bales worth approximately Rp3.4 billion in the waters off Serdang Bedagai, North Sumatra. The case has entered the investigation stage, with one person named a suspect.

Another 1,005 bales were found in nine containers at Tanjung Priok Port. The goods, estimated to be worth Rp8.04 billion, had initially been declared as vegetable oil in the ship’s manifest.

Eight of the inspected containers were found to contain Grade C used clothing, according to Galih Elham Setiawan, head of the Tanjung Priok Customs and Excise Office.

Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara said illegal rice imports could undermine the government’s efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency based on domestic production while harming farmers and consumers.

He also warned that illegally imported used clothing could pressure domestic textile manufacturers and local tailors. Consumers, he added, face uncertainty over the condition and hygiene of the clothing.

Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said illegal rice imports could harm farmers, emphasizing that the impact should not be measured solely by the volume of goods seized.

The government plans to strengthen customs oversight through improvements in personnel integrity, technology, and business processes. Suahasil said enforcement should be tightened without disrupting the movement of legal goods needed for production and consumption.

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