IC Senjaya, Nabil Ihsan, Semarang, Central Java – Central Java Police have uncovered a criminal syndicate that has been smuggling thousands of illegal motor vehicles to Timor-Leste since 2025, with two suspects arrested in connection with the case.
"The practice was carried out since January 2025," Director for Special Crimes Investigation Unit at Central Java Police, Senior Commissioner Djoko Julianto, said here on Wednesday.
The crime was uncovered on April 15, 2026, when police officers prevented the transportation of dozens of motorcycles without documents in two container trucks.
A follow-up probe led the police to a warehouse in Klaten District, Central Java, where they seized two trucks and a dozen motorcycles suspected of being prepared to be smuggled to Timor Leste.
A total of 46 motorcycles, 4 cars, and 2 trucks without documents were seized by police officers during the operation.
Meanwhile, two arrests were made in relation to the case; they are identified with initials AT, aged 49, from Klaten District, and SS, aged 52, from South Jakarta.
"Suspect AT was the investor and the broker with buyers in Timor Leste," Julianto noted.
He explained that the suspects obtained the motor vehicles from various sources, and fake documents for the vehicles were produced to facilitate their transportation to Timor Leste.
According to Julianto, the suspects sell the vehicles at different prices, with motorcycles priced at Rp13 to Rp15 million per unit, cars at Rp140 to Rp150 million, and trucks at Rp210 to Rp220 million.
The syndicate has smuggled 1,674 motorcycles, 34 cars, and 19 trucks, in total, to Timor Leste, he noted.
"The total transaction value of the smuggled vehicles is estimated at Rp100 billion," he added.
The suspects will be prosecuted under Articles 591 or 592 of the Criminal Code on fencing and Law No. 42 of 1999 on Fiduciary.