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Motorists wait to buy Pertalite gasoline at a gas station in Medan, North Sumatra, on July 16, 2026. PT Pertamina Patra Niaga is seeking to normalize long queues by extending operating hours to 24 hours and deploying 30 additional fuel tanker trucks to distribute fuel to gas stations across North Sumatra. (Antara/Yudi Manar)
The arrest of 142 suspects by South Sumatra Police has brought renewed attention to what authorities describe as one of the largest fuel embezzlement cases in the country’s recent history. Between January and July 2026, police uncovered 96 cases involving the diversion and illegal trade of subsidized fuel, with an estimated 1.4 million liters of fuel allegedly siphoned from the official distribution system.According to investigators, the suspects were involved in a range of activities, including unauthorized transportation, hoarding, illegal resales and illicit refinery activities.
The scale of the operation has reinforced authorities' assessment that the fuel shortages in South Sumatra were driven less by insufficient supply than by large-scale leakages in the downstream distribution chain. This assessment is consistent with statements from Pertamina's regional management, which has maintained that refinery production and fuel allocations remain adequate, indicating that the disruption occurred after fuel supplies left storage terminals and before they reached retail gas stations.
