Indonesia charges three over illegal rare earth exports

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian prosecutors have named three suspects, including a customs chief and a state laboratory official, in a corruption case involving the illegal export of approximately 390 metric tons of banned rare earth elements.

The Attorney General’s Office announced Wednesday that the suspects allegedly manipulated laboratory reports to smuggle the highly restricted minerals out of the country under the guise of legal mineral exports.

The suspects include mining company representative IS from PT Putraprima Mineral Mandiri, Pangkalpinang state-owned testing firm PT Sucofindo unit head GP, and Pangkalpinang Customs and Excise Office head JK.

According to Director of Investigations at the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, the case centers on the export of ilmenite.

The suspects allegedly hid the fact that the shipments contained rare earth elements, which are strictly prohibited from being exported under Indonesian law.

"IS allegedly requested GP not to conduct a thorough inspection of the ilmenite samples," Nahdi said.

Consequently, the rare earth element content was omitted from the laboratory test reports, which serve as the basis for issuing export documents.

The customs chief, JK, is accused of clearing the shipments for export despite knowing the cargo contained the restricted minerals.

The probe was launched following findings by a government task force on forest order.

The trio was detained on Tuesday night for an initial 20-day period at the Salemba detention facility located at the headquarters.

They face charges under Indonesia's new Criminal Code concerning corruption and abuse of authority.

Authorities are currently working with the State Development Audit Agency to calculate the total state and economic losses caused by the illicit trade.

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Translator: Nadia Putri Rahmani, Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono

Editor: Primayanti

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