4,000 beef cattle withheld from market

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Thu, August 13 2015,


Feedlots in Tangerang, Banten, have been sealed off by police following the discovery of around 4,000 fully grown cattle which had not sent to the butcher despite already reaching maturity.

The police are currently probing the possibility of the feedlot company PT Brahman Perkasa Sentosa (BPS) intentionally withholding the cows amid the country’s beef shortage.

“From 3,614 cows in this farm, 500 of them have reached the required age for slaughter, but have not yet been sent and are being withheld in the farm,” said National Police detective division chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.

The findings led police to another feedlot operator PT Tanjung Unggul Mandiri (TUM), which was also found to be withholding cattle from the market.

TUM has the same ownership as BPS. This puts the owners, who go by the initials BH, PH and SH, under intensive investigations.

"The total number of cattle at both places is 21,000-ish. Around 4,000 of them are ready to be slaughtered. We suspect [the owners] have intentionally been withholding the cattle from the market," said Brig. Gen. Victor Simanjuntak of the National Police's Criminal Investigations Directorate (Bareskrim) on Thursday.

The feedlots reportedly stopped sending cattle to the butcher the day before Idul Fitri in July, according to Antara news agency.



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