TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi in a press conference on Thursday, said he had ordered law enforcers to continue the investigation against wrongdoings linked to cooking oil distribution or production.

“I don’t want to see anyone trying anything funny that will result in burdening the people,” said the President on May 19.

The President did, in fact, avoid mentioning any details of the criminal cases related to cooking oil. However, a number of cases in the past weeks did emerge as the government imposed a temporary export ban on cooking oil and its raw ingredients.

A recent major attempt to illegally smuggle cooking oil took place on May 12, at the Tanjung Perak harbor in East Java’s Surabaya. Eight thousand liters of cooking oil were secured by law enforcers, which police believe was headed to Surabaya.

In total, there are 168,642.6 liters or 121,985 tons of cooking oil ready for export. The authorities suspect that there were 11 containers of cooking oil ready for export that the suspect smuggled in.

On May 17, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) named five suspects in the investigation of export permit misappropriation on crude palm oil, which is the staple ingredient in the making of cooking oil. The suspects include Wisnu Wardhana, Trade Ministry’s Director General of Foreign Trade.

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FAJAR PEBRIANTO