Aceh Customs Destroys 22.28 Million Illegal Cigarettes Worth IDR 43 Billion

The Lhokseumawe Customs and Excise Office, together with the Aceh Regional Customs Office, has destroyed 22,281,420 illegal cigarettes of various brands. The estimated value of the destroyed goods reached IDR 43.02 billion.

The destruction was carried out on Wednesday (24/6) and was attended by the Mayor of Lhokseumawe and members of the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda), law enforcement agencies, and representatives of relevant government agencies in Lhokseumawe City and North Aceh Regency. The destroyed goods were the result of excise enforcement actions throughout 2025 to 2026, which had been designated as state-owned goods and had received destruction approval from the Director General of State Assets on behalf of the Minister of Finance.

Of the total 22,281,420 illegal cigarettes destroyed, 8,772,070 were the result of enforcement by Lhokseumawe Customs, while the remaining 13,509,350 were from enforcement by the Aceh Regional Customs Office. All of these goods were the result of actions against violations of Law Number 39 of 2007 concerning Excise, as last amended by Law Number 7 of 2021 concerning Harmonisation of Tax Regulations.

The destruction was carried out in parallel at two locations. Symbolically, the destruction activity was held at the Lhokseumawe Customs Office yard, attended by invited guests and stakeholders. Meanwhile, the main destruction process took place at the Alue Lim Final Disposal Site in Lhokseumawe City, utilising modern waste processing machinery to ensure all illegal cigarettes were optimally destroyed and could not be reused.

The use of the waste processing facility at the Alue Lim landfill also served as a form of support for the environmental management innovation developed by the Lhokseumawe City Government through its flagship programme ‘Broeh Jeut Keu Peng’, or ‘turning waste into money’.

Head of the Lhokseumawe Customs Office, Bambang Sutarjo, stated that the destruction was part of Customs’ ongoing efforts to enforce the law in the excise sector. According to him, the circulation of illegal cigarettes not only reduces state revenue from the excise sector but also creates unfair business competition for the tobacco industry, which has complied with all statutory provisions.

‘Illegal cigarettes are sold at a cheaper price because they do not fulfil excise obligations as they should. This condition harms the state, disrupts fair business competition, and has the potential to increase public consumption of goods whose circulation must be supervised,’ he said.

From the enforcement actions carried out by Lhokseumawe Customs and the Aceh Regional Customs Office, the potential state losses saved reached IDR 22.43 billion. This figure demonstrates the significant impact that could have occurred if these illegal goods had successfully circulated in the market. Meanwhile, the total value of goods destroyed in this activity reached more than IDR 43.02 billion.

This destruction serves as strong evidence of the synergy between Lhokseumawe Customs, the Aceh Regional Customs Office, other agencies from the Indonesian National Armed Forces, the Indonesian National Police, the Indonesian Attorney General’s Office, and local governments, including the Civil Service Police Unit, in carrying out their function as community protectors. In addition to conducting supervision and enforcement, Customs also continues to strive to maintain a balance between public protection, the sustainability of compliant industries, and the optimisation of state revenue.