TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Officers of the Special Crime Investigation Directorate in East Java have managed to foil the shipping of 45 thousand baby lobsters worth Rp 3 billion from a wholesaler in Trenggalek. "We arrested [the perpetrator] last Monday," says Commissioner Adityawarman, Chief of the Special Crime Investigation Directorate on Wednesday, October 12, 2016.

According to Adityawarman the baby lobsters were supposed to be sent to Surabaya and before exported to Vietnam and Singapore. The suspect, who goes by the initial DA, also known as BLS (45), is a resident of Tasikmadu Village, Watulimo, Trenggalek. "The suspect collected thousands of baby lobsters from a fisherman and another wholesaler in Trenggalek," Adityawarman added.

For his actions, the suspect will be charged with Law No.31 of 2004 on Fisheries, in conjunction with Law No. 45 of 2009 on the Amendment of Law No. 31 of 2004, and will be subject to a maximum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment and a Rp 2 billion fine.

Wiwit Supriyono, official of the Surabaya Fish Quarantine and Fish Product Quality Control, explained that DA has violated the Marine and Fisheries Ministry Regulation No. 1 of 2015 on the Ban of Undersized Lobster and Crab Fishing.

Wiwit added that lobsters can be exported when they have measured eight centimeters long, or weighed in at 200 grams. "The baby lobsters should be around the age of three to four months," Wiwit said.

NUR HADI