Indonesia airport scammers reused Covid nasal swab tests on passengers, police say

According to Indonesian authorities, up to 10,000 airline passengers could have been vaccinated for coronavirus using reused nasal swabs in a scam that netted the perpetrator’s thousands of dollars.

Five employees of the major Indonesian pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma were arrested on April 27 at the Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, for allegedly washing and repackaging rapid antigen nasal swab kits and using them on passengers.

All passengers must have a negative coronavirus test before boarding a domestic flight in Indonesia, and the company sells the test kits at the Medan airport. According to police, the scam had been going on for about four months.

Grand Commissioner Hadi Wahyudi, a spokesman for the North Sumatra Police, said authorities were still looking into the number of people who had been harmed by the reused swabs.

"On December 17, 2020, they began their crime. If they have 50 to 100 customers a day, the number of victims is estimated to be about 10,000 "he said

The suspects have been charged with violations of Indonesia's health law, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison if convicted. The country's consumer protection law carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted.

Kimia Farma's Medan company manager is among those detained. According to police, every suspect had a different part in the scheme; from washing used cotton swabs to repackaging the package and bringing the samples to the lab.

During the raid that netted the five suspects, police discovered recycled cotton swabs, recycled packaging, and 149 million rupiahs ($10,000) in cash. Each antigen test swab cost 200,000 rupiahs ($14) to passengers.

According to the South China Morning Post, two lawyers who have flown through Medan airport several times in recent months intend to file a class-action lawsuit against the corporation for damages of 1 billion rupiahs ($69,000) per affected passenger.

Erick Thohir, Indonesia's minister of state-owned enterprises, said in a tweet last week that those involved should face "very stern punishment."

The Covid crisis in Indonesia

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, has seen one of Asia's worst Covid outbreaks. According to Johns Hopkins University, the pandemic has resulted in more than 1.6 million cases and 46,000 deaths.

Indonesia's Health Ministry reported two patients with the Covid form B.1.617, which was first discovered in India, earlier this week. In the last week, the country has seen an average of around 5,000 Covid-19 cases every day.

Authorities are worried about the upcoming Mudik holiday when tens of millions of people fly to see their families in their hometowns to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan.

The Indonesian government has banned all domestic travel from May 6 to 17 to prevent the spread of Covid-19 during Eid celebrations. The prohibition applies to both public and private transportation, including automobiles, motorcycles, buses, trains, ferries, ships, and aircraft.

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