ENHANCING CUSTOMS SURVEILLANCE WITH REMOTELY-PILOTED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM USING ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS AS SELECTION TOOL

One of the roles of Directorate General of Customs and Excise -which is positioned under the Ministry of Finance- is to protect the community from illegal flow of goods aka smuggling, into and out of the country. By minimizing smuggling, D.G.C.E. could also save potential revenue loss by applying fine and establishing healthier trade for legal commodities. To support their task in combating smuggling, D.G.C.E. officers are trained in using firearms, and equipped with X-ray scanner, narcotic detectors, K-9 units, chemical laboratory, and patrol vessel ranged from 7m to 60m in length. Previously, D.G.C.E. also operated several aircraft as aerial asset to detect potential smuggling activities. With the last aircraft rendered inoperative at the early 2000s, D.G.C.E. are now practically have zero aerial asset. To keep up with the ever-increasing smuggling threat, D.G.C.E. must consider to implement aerial asset to support its land and marine patrol unit in detecting potential smuggling activities, especially at the border. Advancement in Remotely-Piloted Aircraft System (R.P.A.S.) technology could serve as the basis of D.G.C.E.’s future aerial asset for surveillance at the border. This study aims to help D.G.C.E. in choosing the best R.P.A.S. option in the market to fulfill their need. Using Analytical Hierarchy Process (A.H.P.) to aid the decision-making step and weighted average scoring to determine the urgency of six main criterion, the study compares five available options from local and foreign manufacturers. This research concludes that the Alternative A is the best choice, combining relatively affordable price and maintenance cost with decent performance and sensor.