Customs Foils Circulation of 8.9 Million Illegal Cigarettes Worth IDR 13.28 Billion
The Directorate General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance has successfully thwarted the circulation of 8,944,800 illicit cigarettes not affixed with excise stamps. The potential state loss amounted to IDR 8.66 billion. The operation was conducted by Jakarta Customs and developed jointly with the Jakarta Customs Regional Office and the Banten Customs Regional Office. The enforcement began with public information regarding the suspected shipment of illicit excisable tobacco products using a truck transiting through the Jakarta Customs supervision area.
After investigation and analysis, a Jakarta Customs team together with the Metro Jaya Police Highway Patrol carried out an enforcement operation on Saturday (6/6) at 15:15 WIB on the Jakarta Outer Ring Road at KM 35.8. During the inspection, officers found 8,000,800 illicit cigarettes of the SS brand without excise stamps, which were then taken to the Jakarta Customs Office for further examination. The suspects detained include PY as the truck driver and YK as the shipping supervisor.
Based on information obtained from PY, the illicit cigarettes were sent on the orders of HH, a goods controller in Pamekasan. The destination was a warehouse on Jalan Kampung Kemeranggen, Taman Baru, Taktakan District, Serang City, Banten. On Sunday (7/6), a joint team from Customs and the Indonesian Military Police conducted a follow-up operation and found an additional 944,000 illicit cigarettes of the SS and 41 brands without excise stamps stored at the warehouse. It was then discovered that the cigarettes in the warehouse belonged to AS.
Overall, the total amount of goods seized reached 8,944,800 illicit cigarettes with an estimated goods value of IDR 13.28 billion. Meanwhile, the potential state loss saved amounted to IDR 8.66 billion. This value consists of potential excise revenue of IDR 6.67 billion, cigarette tax of IDR 667.28 million, and value-added tax on tobacco products of IDR 1.32 billion.
Director General of Customs and Excise Lieutenant General (Ret.) Djaka Budhi Utama stressed that eradicating illegal cigarettes is part of efforts to protect the public, maintain a healthy business climate, and secure state revenue. “The enforcement against the circulation of illegal cigarettes is a form of protection to the public from products that do not comply with regulations, protection to business actors who comply with the rules, as well as efforts to safeguard state revenue used to finance development and public services,” he said at a press conference at the Customs Head Office in Jakarta on Tuesday (9/6).
He stated that the successful enforcement against illegal cigarettes also contributes to maintaining the sustainability of the legal tobacco products industry. At least around 3,578 hand-rolled cigarette workers are protected from potential job losses. According to Djaka, the circulation of illegal cigarettes creates unfair business competition because legal business actors have fulfilled their excise payment obligations and other statutory provisions.
“Therefore, Customs will continue to strengthen supervision and enforcement through synergy with law enforcement officials and public support,” he said. The case has been escalated to the investigation stage based on a Commencement of Investigation Order dated 8 June 2026. During the investigation process, Customs is cooperating with the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Metro Jaya Police to ensure the investigation proceeds according to applicable regulations. Currently, PY has been named a suspect, while further inquiries and examinations are still being conducted on several other parties suspected of being linked to the illegal cigarette distribution network.