Customs Intensifies Operations in West Java, Secures Over 2 Million Illegal Cigarettes
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANDUNG - The West Java Regional Customs Office (Kanwil) along with all its vertical units in the working area secured more than 2 million illegal cigarettes through Operation ‘Maung Padjajaran’ from 22-28 April 2026.
The supervision activities involved synergy between the West Java Regional Customs Office and Bandung Customs, Bogor Customs, Purwakarta Customs, Cirebon Customs, and Tasikmalaya Customs. In this operation, officers conducted intensive monitoring at various distribution points and circulation routes for goods, from shops and kiosks to parcel delivery companies (PJT) suspected of being distribution channels for illegal cigarettes.
From the results of the one-week operation, the West Java Regional Customs Office recorded 248 enforcement actions. This number consisted of 56 actions against shops or kiosks caught selling illegal cigarettes, as well as 191 actions against shipped goods at parcel delivery companies suspected to contain illegal tobacco products.
Overall, officers successfully secured 2,092,830 illegal cigarettes with an estimated value of Rp 3.1 billion. From this amount, the potential state losses saved are estimated at Rp 1.56 billion.
In addition to enforcement actions, the West Java Regional Customs Office followed up on the operation results through an ultimum remedium (UR) approach. A total of seven UR activities were carried out with a value of Rp 361.5 million as part of efforts for administrative resolution and proportional law enforcement.
Head of the West Java Regional Customs Office, Finari Manan, stated that this operation not only focused on enforcement but also on educating the public about the dangers and impacts of illegal cigarette circulation.
“Through this operation, we hope the public will increasingly understand the characteristics of illegal cigarettes and actively participate in rejecting the circulation of illegal excisable goods in their surroundings,” said Finari.
He also emphasised that consistent and collaborative monitoring is expected to create a healthy business climate for the compliant tobacco industry. According to him, joint efforts between authorities and the public are key to maintaining state revenues while closing off spaces for illegal product circulation in West Java.