That story about fake eggs being sold in Jakarta markets recently may have been a hoax, but a very real and potentially dangerous scheme involving imported food has now been uncovered by the Jakarta Police, who have accused a company of selling expired food products from the US and Australia to supermarkets in the capital and around the country. Authorities say they’ve been perpetrating the illegal practice since 2014.

Police raided the warehouse of import company PT Pandawa Rezeki Semesta (PRT) in Tambora, West Jakarta, on Monday following the results of an investigation, started in December, spurred by reports that the company’s employees had been replacing the labels on their imported food products with new ones doctored to look exactly the same except with different expiration dates. Police arrested three people as a result of the evidence found in the warehouse, including the company director.

Among the evidence officers found were 96,780 food products that had had their labels and expiry dates changed, ranging from mayonnaise to baby food. All of the products were imported from either the US or Australia.

Police also seized tools the company used as part of the scheme, including paint thinner to remove the original labels and special printers to create the doctored labels.

According to authorities, PT PRT was able to bring in profits of around IDR3-6 billion (USD 218,000-436,000) through the sale of the expired products.

Police did not indicate which exact supermarkets the food products had been sold to but did say they were located in Jakarta as well as other parts of Indonesia.

The suspects will be charged with violating laws on food safety and consumer protection and could face up to 5 years in prison if convicted.

Grove: Coconuts Brand Studio

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