TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Mohammad Fadil Imran instructed the establishment of a special team to eradicate rampant illegal levies on truck drivers in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. The team was formed after National Police Chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo received a direct warning from President Joko Widodo or Jokowi.

“The Jakarta Police Chief has ordered the establishment of a team yesterday,” said Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus in North Jakarta, Friday, June 11. The special team is tasked to seek perpetrators from the upstream to the downstream levels.

The police are determined to trace the roots of the practices that were usually committed by port workers. “We will not hesitate to take repressive action against perpetrators because it has been disturbing,” Yusri added.

As of last night, the police arrested 49 people linked to alleged illegal levies cases. They came from three loading and unloading ports in North Jakarta, including JICT, PT DKM, and PT GFC.

The illegal levies were collected from five posts, such as entrance gates, truck washing stations, and loading and unloading areas. “The levies start from Rp2,000, Rp5,000, Rp10,000, or Rp20,000,” Yusri said.

These crimes often hampered loading and unloading activities and even prompted traffic congestion until outside the port area.

The massive arrests of perpetrators of illegal levies were carried out after President Joko Jokowi Widodo visited Tanjung Priok and met with truck drivers. They complained about illegal levies that remained rife in the area. Upon hearing the complaints, Jokowi instantly reached the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to follow up on the issue.

Read: Jakarta Ombudsman Examines Illegal Levy Practices in City Flats

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH