Customs Foils Smuggling of 8.2 Million Illegal Cigarettes
Tangerang Selatan (ANTARA) - The Banten Regional Office of Customs has thwarted an attempt to smuggle and distribute 8,262,000 sticks of illegal, untaxed cigarettes through the Merak-Bakauheni Port crossing area on Thursday (11/6).
During a press conference in Tangerang on Friday, the Director General of Customs and Excise, Djaka Budhi Utama, stated that the seizure of these 8.2 million illegal cigarettes is valued at Rp12.68 billion, with potential state losses of Rp7.9 billion prevented.
“The results of this enforcement action include a total of 8,262,000 sticks of illegal cigarettes. The entire amount is estimated to be worth up to Rp12.68 billion, with prevented state losses amounting to Rp7.9 billion, covering excise duties, tobacco tax, and Value Added Tax on Tobacco Products (PPN HT),” he explained.
He revealed that Customs has also successfully detained one suspect, identified by the initials JFR, who was acting as the driver of a Colt Diesel truck with licence plate D 80XX FM, which was transporting the illegal excisable goods.
“We have named one suspect, JFR, because he has been involved in several shipments previously and was unfortunately caught in Banten,” he said.
He noted that this prevention effort was carried out through a joint operation between Banten and Merak Customs. During the operation, officers were able to conduct two separate enforcement actions against the illegal cigarette smuggling attempts.
“The enforcement began on Thursday around 07:00 WIB when Merak Customs received information regarding a suspected shipment of illegal cigarettes passing through its surveillance area,” he said.
Following up on this information, Djaka stated that the Customs team conducted observations and land patrols in the Merak-Bakauheni Ferry Port area, Cilegon City. Officers subsequently stopped and inspected a Colt Diesel truck, plate number D80XXFM, suspected of carrying illegal excisable goods.
“When questioned, the driver, JFR, and the assistant, JER, could not explain the cargo they were carrying. Upon inspection, officers found 182 cartons of machine-made clove cigarettes (SKM) under the brand OK BOLD without the required excise stamps. The total amount of goods seized reached 2,912,000 sticks of cigarettes,” he explained.
After securing the goods from the first enforcement action, the team continued patrols and inspections of vehicles crossing from Bakauheni Port. Officers then stopped a Hino Fuso truck, plate number BM 84XX DN, which was also suspected of carrying illegal cigarette evidence.
“When the truck bed was opened, officers found 535 cartons of machine-made white cigarettes (SPM) under the brand Double Happiness without excise stamps, hidden behind a load of animal feed. The amount of illegal cigarettes seized from this truck reached 5,350,000 sticks,” he said.
He added that deep inspections revealed the smuggling method involved disguising the illegal goods as animal feed. The suspects reportedly sourced the illegal goods from East Java and Central Java to be transported to Sumatra.
“They deceived the customs officers by camouflaging the goods, stacking them under animal feed,” he said.
In this case, the suspect’s actions are alleged to violate Article 54 and/or Article 56 of Law Number 39 of 2007 concerning Excise.
“The Banten Regional Office of Customs and Merak Customs have conducted an investigation involving suspect JFR, with sufficient consideration and evidence that he has committed an unlawful act,” he concluded.