inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. The Minister of Trade (Mendag), Muhammad Lutfi, admitted that he could not control the cooking oil mafia. This is such an unfortunate statement because as a country, the government cannot lose to the cooking oil mafia. At a meeting with Commission VI of the DPR, the Minister of Trade admitted that he could not control the cooking oil mafia because he had limited authority in the law to thoroughly investigate the mafia and cooking oil speculators. Friday (18/3/22). Responding to that statement, Director of Center of Economic and Law Studies, Bhima Yudhistira, said. “As the government, they are supposed not to give up in investigating the mafia and speculators for cooking oil or other stocks,” he said. According to him, there are still several ways that Mendag could have done in eradicating and investigating this cooking oil mafia. “They should have coordinated with Food Task Force in apprehending and upholding the law because it is the job of Mendag in monitoring the trade and market of the state,” he adds. The government, as the protector of the people, should have been brave enough to face the mafia that has caused the suffering of the general society. "If Mendag fails to deal with the cooking oil mafia, it means that his function as the Minister of Trade is not working,” he said. If that is what happened, then that is a great shame for the state.