Tangerang. Police have seized 13 tons of Minyakita cooking oil from a packaging facility in Tangerang and arrested the owner on fraud charges, an officer announced on Wednesday.

The raid was part of a nationwide crackdown on Minyakita producers and distributors suspected of underfilling and inflating prices, sparking public outrage.

Market inspections revealed that Minyakita was being sold above the government-set price cap of Rp 15,700 per liter, while some bottles contained less than the advertised 1 liter, with volumes reduced to 800 milliliters to maximize profits.

The packaging facility, located in Rajeg District, Tangerang, was found to be fraudulently reducing oil volume while still marketing the product as 1 liter.

"Our investigation confirmed that the factory was deliberately underfilling Minyakita bottles. During the raid, we seized evidence of this illegal practice,” said Wiwin Setiawan, Deputy Director of the Special Crime Unit at Banten Police.

The operation was launched in response to mounting public complaints about fraudulent Minyakita sales.

The factory owner, identified by the initials AN, had allegedly been running the illegal operation since January.

According to police, AN earned around Rp 45 million ($2,740) per month by underfilling Minyakita bottles and inflating prices in Tangerang and Serang.

The suspect sourced the cooking oil from Eka Arta Global, a company in Depok that was already under investigation for similar fraudulent activities.

Police also discovered that the factory was operating without proper government permits and lacked Indonesia’s National Standard (SNI) certification.

"As far as we know, the suspect acted alone and employed several workers. However, we are expanding the investigation to identify co-conspirators who may have supported AN and supplied raw materials," Wiwin added.

The suspect faces charges under Indonesia’s Trade Law and Consumer Protection Law, which carry a maximum prison sentence of 3 years and a fine of Rp 3 billion ($182,682).