Prabowo Orders Finance Minister to Investigate Customs Amid Ongoing Smuggling
President Prabowo Subianto has asked Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa to investigate the Directorate General of Customs and Excise because smuggling is still widely found.
“Finance minister, investigate customs and excise as well. Your job is to guard against smuggling, why is there still so much smuggling there,” he said in his state address at the Annual Session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) on Friday (14/8/2026).
Prabowo said that he asked for customs and excise to be investigated as a form of challenge for the institution to fight against misappropriation and smuggling that harm the people.
“There is no problem, we are actually challenging them to do good. They are our children, we must uphold them. Our people do not want to accept injustice, they no longer want their misappropriation,” he stressed.
The performance of customs and excise itself has come under sharp scrutiny from President Prabowo Subianto since late 2025, and the president’s threat was clear: if there was no improvement within a year, Customs and Excise would be dissolved and replaced with Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS). However, the direction towards dissolution has faded as assessments of customs and excise performance have improved.
As previously reported, according to Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, President Prabowo has now even given an award to the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) for the improvements that have been made, such as strengthening supervision policies and enforcement against the circulation of illegal goods.
“If we look at the award or from the president’s speech to Customs and Excise, Mr Prabowo has seen that there has been a significant improvement from Customs and Excise,” Purbaya said some time ago at his office, as quoted on Tuesday (11/8/2026).
“Previously he said dissolve it, now he once said in one of the cabinet meetings that Customs and Excise can be improved and must be improved. That is a clear signal that there is positive development in Customs and Excise that is recognised by our leader,” he stressed.