Indonesia seizes Rp27.339 billion of illegal rice, salt and used-clothing imports
Indonesian Customs conducted four enforcement operations covering 30 containers of rice and salt and 1,435 bales of suspected used clothing. The goods, seized during August and September 2026, had an estimated combined value of Rp27.339 billion.
Four operations target falsely declared cargo
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Customs and Excise has disclosed four enforcement operations involving imported rice, salt and suspected used clothing with an estimated combined value of Rp27.339 billion. The actions took place during August and September 2026 at Tanjung Perak Port, a bonded zone in Bogor, the Gosong Bunga-Bunga waters of the Malacca Strait and Tanjung Priok Port, according to Republika.
Customs detained 30 containers carrying rice and salt that allegedly did not match their import declarations, as well as 1,435 bales of suspected used clothing. The authorities are processing the evidence under applicable law and continuing investigations in coordination with the police and prosecutors, Liputan6 reported.
Rice and salt allegedly concealed as chemicals
The first operation involved 15 containers declared as 412.5 tonnes of ammonium chloride from India. The shipment, submitted by PT TI, was stopped at Tanjung Perak in Surabaya on 19 August 2026. Physical inspection and testing at the Customs Laboratory in Surabaya instead identified 202,450 kilograms of rice and 211,000 kilograms of salt. The cargo was valued at approximately Rp7.853 billion.
Information developed from that case led Customs to inspect a similar shipment in Bogor on 7 September 2026. The cargo, imported from India by PT ILW, had been declared as 420,000 kilograms of low-grade chemical salt intended for leather tanning and was packed in another 15 containers. Officers found 194,900 kilograms of rice and 225,400 kilograms of material suspected to be salt. Its estimated value was Rp8.006 billion.
Together, the two cases accounted for 397,350 kilograms of rice and 436,400 kilograms of salt. Customs Director General Djaka Budi Utama said officers had found indications of false declarations, including attempts to mislead inspectors through packaging and the arrangement of goods. Authorities have not announced final judicial findings against the companies named in the declarations.
Government points to risks for protected markets
Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara said at a Customs headquarters press conference in Jakarta on 22 September 2026 that illegal rice imports could undermine Indonesia’s food self-sufficiency policy. He said domestic rice is subject to production, storage and sales controls, while undeclared cargo cannot provide the same assurances over shipment, packaging or quality.
The government also linked the seizures to the protection of domestic producers and consumers. Liputan6 reported that officials see illegally imported rice as a threat to local farmers because unlicensed supply can disrupt prices for domestically produced grain. Suspected used-clothing imports, Suahasil said, can hurt Indonesian tailors, textile manufacturers and companies supplying the textile sector, while also presenting uncertain hygiene risks to consumers.
The cases show how importers may combine inaccurate tariff descriptions with physical concealment to move controlled consumer goods through formal logistics channels. For rice and salt producers, enforcement removes unrecorded supply that could otherwise compete outside Indonesia’s import controls. For legitimate importers and processors, the investigation signals closer scrutiny of commodity descriptions, declared industrial uses, packaging and laboratory composition, particularly when shipments contain food products presented as chemical inputs.
