How syndicates smuggle second-hand clothes into Indonesia despite ban

‘Mouse seaports, rogue Customs officers targeted as authorities step up enforcement

- Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja Indonesia Correspondent

In Indonesia, it is illegal to import secondhand clothes, for health and economic reasons. But this has not stopped syndicates from taking advantage of the country’s porous borders, weak enforcement and rogue Customs officers to smuggle in these goods.

The authorities have detected illegal garment shipments along the eastern part of Sumatra island, through the so-called “mouse seaports”, or tiny illegal ports spread along the coastline facing the Malacca Strait, said Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa at a recent briefing with reporters in Jakarta.

But he stressed that most of the illegal merchandise was imported through major seaports, like Jakarta and Surabaya, with the help of rogue Customs officers.

“Through these mouse seaports, you can bring in only so little and by small vessels that don’t carry those huge containers,” he said in response to a question from The Straits Times at the Nov 14 briefing.

“We are implementing the regulations more strictly on the ground. We will take stern measures when they (rogue Customs officers) get caught red-handed. We are deploying ‘itjen’ officers (internal auditors),” Mr Purbaya said.

Recalcitrant importers would be banned for life from importing any goods, he added.

Recent raids in West Java seized more than 19,000 bales of used garments worth over 112 billion rupiah (S$8.8 million), which sparked calls to investigate syndicates that channel goods mainly from developed countries. There is no estimated annual value for seized secondhand clothing.

While Malaysia and Singapore are transit points, Mr Purbaya said, Japan and South Korea have been the main source countries, according to Customs officers cited in local media reports.

Indonesia bans the import of used garments on the grounds that these pose health and environment risk, and harm the domestic textile industry.