August 22, 2025 | 10:17 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Soekarno-Hatta Customs Office has reported to the police an allegation by a Cameroonian national who claimed he lost US$5,000 during a customs inspection. The statement by the passenger, identified as MS, has since gone viral on social media.
"We have reported it to the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police Station," said the Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Customs Office, Gatot Sugeng Wibowo, on Thursday, August 21, 2025. He explained that the report was filed to verify the accuracy of the passenger's statement, which would later be cross-checked with the facts on the ground.
The step taken by the customs office was in response to the viral post by MS. In a widely circulated video, he recounted a bad experience at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Customs Office and claimed to have lost US$5,000, or around Rp81 million, without knowing who took it.
Gatot dismissed the allegation, saying the claim made by MS was untrue. "It's just a hoax," he said.
He added that the statement was proven false after an investigation and a review of CCTV footage.
"We have investigated, and based on the CCTV footage, the money was never there. What he conveyed and accused is not true," Gatot stated.
According to him, MS had protested to the customs officers who inspected his belongings upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, and the protest later spread as viral content. "The inspection was carried out to check the goods," he said.
Gatot also clarified MS's claim that he was a US national. Based on the passport shown, he explained, MS is a citizen of Cameroon.
Based on flight records, Gatot said MS had flown from Africa to Indonesia with the intention of shopping in Tanah Abang, Jakarta, before sending the goods back to his country to be sold.
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