The Malang City Police (Polresta) have successfully uncovered the manufacture and distribution of illegal skincare products. In exposing this case, officers detained two suspects with the initials RW (a resident of Malang) and SHS (a resident of Kediri), who are suspected of producing dangerous cosmetics without official permits.
Malang City Police Chief, Senior Commissioner Putu Kholis Aryana, revealed that the two suspects took advantage of high public interest in online shopping (e-commerce) to market their illegal products. This unlicensed business is known to have been operating for approximately two years, while the mixing activities at a house in the Sukun area, Malang City, had only been going on for the past three months.
Sadly, neither suspect has any medical or pharmaceutical background. They admitted to learning how to mix cosmetic ingredients autodidactically just by watching video tutorials on the internet. From this illegal business, they were able to generate profits or turnover of up to hundreds of millions of rupiah by selling products through popular marketplaces.
To make the skincare products, the suspects mixed various hazardous chemicals such as cetyl alcohol, stearic acid, white oil, and triethanolamine without safe measurements or dosages. The reckless use of these ingredients poses a high risk of damaging consumers' skin, ranging from triggering severe irritation, redness, and nausea, to the long-term risk of skin cancer.
For further investigation, the police seized evidence in the form of 1.4 tons of liquid raw materials and 15 types of ready-to-sell cosmetic products. Samples of these materials are currently being tested at the East Java Regional Police Forensic Laboratory in coordination with the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM). As a result of their actions, the suspects are charged under the Health Law and the Consumer Protection Law, facing up to 12 years in prison and a maximum fine of IDR 5 billion.
