Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — The Indonesian Navy has uncovered an Avtur theft operation, stealing supplies for Kualanamu Airport in North Sumatra. The syndicate was dismantled in a raid at Dewi Indah Beach, Pantai Labu district, Deli Serdang regency with three suspects have been arrested in connection with the theft.
The scheme, which involved siphoning fuel from an underwater pipeline. The fuel theft syndicate in Deli Serdang allegedly drilled into an underwater pipeline and installed specialized hoses to siphon aviation fuel (avtur) directly into their storage tanks.
The Avtur theft operation was exposed when the Indonesian Navy’s Fleet One Quick Response (F1QR) team from Lantamal I Belawan raided the storage site on Tuesday (February 11, 2025).
“The perpetrators stole Pertamina’s aviation fuel by drilling into an underwater pipeline and installing a hose that connected to a storage facility,” said First Lieutenant Marine Olpen Situmorang, Commander of the Pantai Labu Naval Post, in a statement on Wednesday (February 12, 2025), as reported by Kompas.
During the raid, authorities arrested three suspects identified by their initials: AR (47), IW (31), and H (43), one of whom managed a local tourist attraction at Dewi Indah Beach. Authorities also confiscated 29 storage tanks, each with a capacity of 1,000 liters, along with two drums containing approximately 220 liters of aviation fuel.
Operating Since 2022
According to First Lieutenant Situmorang, the syndicate has been in operation since 2022. In a single heist, the thieves could steal up to 30 kiloliters (30,000 liters) of aviation fuel intended for aircraft at Kualanamu Airport.
The Indonesian Navy is now coordinating with the Deli Serdang Police to further investigate the Avtur theft network.
Pertamina Losses
Pertamina Patra Niaga’s Area Manager for Communication, Relations & CSR in North Sumatra, Susanto August Satria, estimated that the latest theft resulted in losses of approximately Rp400 million (around $26,000).
“Based on preliminary assessments, the losses amount to roughly Rp400 million, with evidence including more than 29 storage tanks containing around 30 kiloliters of fuel,” August stated at his office on Thursday (February 13, 2025).
However, Pertamina is still calculating the total financial impact since the syndicate began its operations in 2022. “We need to wait for the results of the investigation before confirming the exact duration and extent of the theft,” August added.
Therefore, Pertamina has formally reported the case to the Deli Serdang Police for further legal proceedings.
Undetected Operations
August explained that aviation fuel is offloaded from tankers via a 5-kilometer underwater pipeline to the Aircraft Refueling Depot (DPPU) at Kualanamu Airport, with deliveries occurring two to three times per month.
Since the depot has a total capacity of 30 million liters, a loss of 30,000 liters per incident was initially within the acceptable range of fuel evaporation. “A 30,000-liter discrepancy falls within our system’s tolerance level for evaporation losses,” August said.
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However, he expressed surprise that the thieves were aware of Pertamina’s evaporation threshold. “We need to understand how they extracted the fuel and how they knew about the evaporation margin,” he added.
Authorities have yet to determine where the stolen aviation fuel was sold. Pertamina has urged law enforcement to trace its distribution network.
Fuel Supply Remains Stable
Despite the theft, Pertamina assured that aviation fuel supplies in North Sumatra remain stable, and refueling operations at Kualanamu Airport continue without disruption.
“We can confirm that after uncovering this theft, aviation fuel supplies at Kualanamu remain normal. We are also committed to enhancing oversight to prevent similar incidents in the future,” Satria stated.
Pertamina Patra Niaga has reiterated its commitment to improving security measures in fuel distribution to safeguard national energy resources.
(Raidi/Agung)
