Anti-Corruption Commission Reveals Customs Bribery as Root Cause of Illegal Cigarette Surge in Indonesia
The Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) has detained Budiman Bayu Prasojo, Head of the Intelligence Section of Enforcement and Investigation (P2) at the Directorate General of Customs, in connection with a bribery case involving the importation of goods at customs. The KPK revealed that this case has had a direct impact on the proliferation of illegal cigarettes in Indonesia.
“Is this also related to the illegal cigarettes that are currently rampant? That is one factor. That is correct,” said KPK Deputy for Enforcement and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu at KPK headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Friday (27 February 2026).
In this case, Budiman played a role in ordering Customs Enforcement and Investigation (P2) employees, specifically Salisa Asmoaji (SA), to store money derived from corruption in a safe house. The corrupt funds came from bribes related to the importation of goods and companies subject to customs duties.
Regarding illegal cigarettes, Asep described the modus operandi as involving either the use of falsified or counterfeit excise stamps. Through such practices, the state suffers significant losses.
“Yes, it works like this. Some cases involve genuinely counterfeit or forged excise stamps. There is also a modus where individuals use excise stamps that should not be applied to particular goods. That is how it works,” he explained.
“So what happens is that cheaper excise stamps are purchased in larger quantities by these unscrupulous actors. These are then applied to goods that should actually attract higher excise duties. This results in a shortfall in state revenue because the excise duties do not correspond correctly,” he added.
The KPK will subsequently summon cigarette manufacturers involved in the scheme. However, the KPK has not yet detailed which parties will be called in relation to the illegal cigarette issue.
“Will cigarette manufacturers be summoned? Of course. Yes. Based on statements from this individual and from whoever else may be involved. Which companies and individuals specifically,” he stated.
The KPK previously revealed that counterfeit and illegal goods could enter Indonesia because of bribery cases involving employees of the Directorate General of Customs (DJBC) under the Ministry of Finance. The KPK stated that such bribes prevented inspections from being conducted in accordance with regulations.
Asep Guntur revealed an agreement between the Head of Customs Intelligence Section Orlando Hamonangan and the Deputy Head of Customs Intelligence Section Sisprian Subiaksono with the owner of PT Blueray John Field, the Head of the Import Documentation Team at PT Blueray Andri, and the Operations Manager at PT Blueray Dedy Kurniawan in October 2025. They are suspected of conspiring to arrange import channels for goods into Indonesia.
The KPK stated that the Finance Ministry Regulation establishes two types of channels for import supervision services. There is the green lane, which is a cargo release channel without physical inspection, and the red lane, which is a cargo release channel with physical inspection.
“Subsequently, FLR (Customs employee Filar) received instructions from ORL (Orlando) to adjust the parameters of the red lane and follow up by establishing rule sets at 70 per cent,” said Asep as quoted on Friday (6 February).
To date, there are seven suspects in the goods import bribery case at customs. Their identities are as follows:
Rizal (RZL) – Director of Enforcement and Investigation at the Directorate General of Customs (P2 DJBC) from 2024 to January 2026;
Sisprian Subiaksono (SIS) – Head of the Subdirectorate of Enforcement and Investigation Intelligence at the Directorate General of Customs (Deputy Head of Intel P2 DJBC);
Orlando (ORL) – Head of the Intelligence Section at the Directorate General of Customs (Head of Intel DJBC);
John Field (JF) – Owner of PT Blueray
Andri (AND) – Head of the Import Documentation Team at PT Blueray
Dedy Kurniawan (DK) – Operations Manager at PT Blueray
Budiman Bayu Prasojo (BBP) – Head of the Intelligence Section of Excise Enforcement and Investigation at Customs (Kasi Intel Cukai P2 DJBC)