Malang, (malangkota.go.id) – After receiving reports from the public and it was suspected that the circulation of alcoholic beverages was still rampant, officers from customs, Malang City Satpol PP and Malang City police conducted an operation on Friday (18/3/2022) night until Saturday morning (19/3/2022). From three cafes in the Sudimoro area, Lowokwaru District and one cafe on Jalan Kahuripan, Klojen District, officers confiscated at least around 700 bottles of alcoholic beverages.
Head of the operations team from Malang Customs, Krisno Budi Bagus Sasmito said that the alcoholic beverages actually had excise stamps and distribution permits. The confiscation was carried out because the cafe managers did not have permits to sell alcoholic beverages, especially for classes A, B, and C.
"This time we are targeting retail sellers of alcoholic beverages, and the cafe managers will later be summoned to the local Customs office for further questioning and are threatened with administrative sanctions," he added.
When visiting a cafe on Jalan Kahuripan, Klojen District, in addition to confiscating hundreds of alcoholic beverages, officers also broke up a live music event that caused a crowd and violated health protocols. In addition, the manager was also considered to have violated the operating hours and the cafe's visitor capacity rule of a maximum of 50 percent of visitors during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Regarding this matter, Head of Trantibum Satpol PP Malang City Rahmat Hidayat said that his party was forced to seal the cafe because there were too many violations. According to him, the cafe will be temporarily closed for at least the next 14 days and its management will be summoned to the Satpol PP office.
Rahmat added that the cafe managers are also threatened with being charged with a minor crime (tipiring), namely a maximum imprisonment of three months and/or a maximum fine of IDR 50 million. "So this joint operation is to see, supervise and take action against violations that have been regulated in the Inmendagri and the circular of the Mayor of Malang regarding PPKM Level 3," he explained.
Meanwhile, for the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages, he explained, it was related to its permit and from the results of the operation there was a violation of Regional Regulation Number 4 of 2020 concerning Supervision and Control of Alcoholic Beverages. "In the future, we will intensify this joint operation and categorized as a social disease (pekat)," concluded Rahmat. (say/ram)
