In the quiet industrial avenues of Sunter Agung, North Jakarta, a four-story shophouse functioned as the nerve center for a sophisticated international gold-smuggling syndicate. Managed by Indian nationals, the operation deployed a chemical disguise: crushing precious metal bars into powder, liquefying them with specialized agents, and transforming them into a colored gel designed to bypass high-security airport scanners. Directorate of Special Economic Crimes (Dittipidter) Bareskrim Polri raided the premises on August 17, 2026, uncovering an illicit industrial pipeline that highlights the ingenuity of transnational resource theft.
An Industrial Smuggling Factory Housed in Plain Sight
The operation dismantled by Bareskrim Polri at PT White Classic Gold & Silver reveals a meticulous division of labor across a single multi-story building. According to Brigjen Mohammad Irhamni, Director of Tipidter, the facility’s architecture was engineered for illegal refining and smuggling logistics. The ground floor processed incoming gold bullion sourced from various domestic sites across Indonesia, acting as the primary transactional hub. Meanwhile, the upper levels housed logistical inventory, residential quarters for the boss, and a conversion lab on the fourth floor.
Inside the top-floor refining space, investigators seized machinery capable of dismantling the physical structure of gold bars. Blenders pulverized solid metal, while scales and gold-purity testing devices measured output accuracy. Law enforcement also recovered a sewing machine used to modify underwear. This hardware formed the backbone of a smuggling vector that relied on human carriers rather than freight cargo manifests.
Alchemy of Evasion: Transforming Solid Metal Into Wearable Gel
The technical sophistication of the North Jakarta syndicate extended beyond simple concealment. To defeat X-ray inspection systems at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the syndicate engineered a chemical masking process. According to police findings, pulverized gold powder was blended with chemical agents and color dyes to match the fabric hue of undergarments. This transformation yielded a gel that could be stuffed into specially modified men’s underwear and women’s brassieres.
By mimicking the appearance of fabric, the metallic gel was intended to avoid detection by airport security screeners. In parallel investigations, the Directorate General of Customs and Excise reported thwarting 32 separate gold-smuggling attempts totaling 248 kilograms until August 2026. Customs officials have flagged similar modalities, pointing to coordinated transnational syndicates moving illicitly mined Indonesian bullion toward markets like Dubai.
Tracing the Upstream Supply Chain and Regulatory Vulnerabilities
Beyond the immediate arrests and physical seizures—which included a single one-kilogram gold bar secured inside a vault alongside multiple transaction accounts—the investigation exposes vulnerabilities in Indonesia’s natural resource governance. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has announced plans to trace the upstream origins of these smuggled mineral exports.
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