Kudus Customs And Excise Destroying 5 Million Illegal Cigarette Bats With A Capai Bobot Of 8.4 Tons

A total of five million illegal cigarettes weighing up to 8.44 tons were destroyed in Kudus, Central Java. The destruction was carried out by the Kudus Type Customs Supervision and Service Office (KPPBC).

The head of KPPBC Kudus, Moch. Arif Setijo Noegroho said that his party also destroyed other evidence, which amounted to Rp5.7 billion. The entire results of the action were taken from April to November 2022.

"Other evidence that was destroyed, namely 3 communication tools in the form of cellphones, ethics, and a banking debit card," he said after the destruction of illegal cigarettes at the Kudus KPPBC page, Wednesday, December 21, quoted from Antara.

The destroyed goods have become State Property (BMN) in accordance with the BMN Determination Decree from the Directorate General of State Assets (DJKN) of the Ministry of Finance and have received approval for the destruction.

The details include 5,032,280 cigarettes of machine kretek cigarettes (SKM), 17,140 hand kretek cigarettes (SKT), 30 kg of ethics, and a banking debit card with potential state losses ranging from Rp3.85 billion.

Of the millions of illegal cigarettes, he continued, some were burned in the yard of the Kudus Customs Office, then all goods were destroyed by hoarding them in the final disposal site (TPA) Tanjungrejo, Kudus Regency.

Some of the evidence destroyed has permanent legal force, and most of them are cigarettes without excise or plain cigarettes and the rest are attached to fake excise stamps so that they violate Article 54 and Article 55 of Law Number 39 of 2007 concerning Amendments to Law Number 11 of 1995 concerning Excise.

As for the provisions, he said, cigarettes as excisable goods must be attached to an original excise tape that is in accordance with its designation and according to its personalization as evidence that the state's levies have been met in the form of excise duty.

He appealed to the entire community not to buy, sell, or distribute illegal cigarettes. In addition to harming state revenues, there is also a threat of criminal sanctions that can harm the perpetrators.

All information regarding the production and circulation of illegal cigarettes, he said, could be conveyed to Kudus Customs or law enforcement officials.

To run a legal cigarette business, all information and licensing can be obtained and managed at the Customs Office free of charge.

"The commitment to complying with statutory provisions is certainly a clear proof of the love for the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia," he said.

Kudus Customs and Excise together with law enforcement officers (APH) and district governments throughout Pati Residency are committed to enforcing the law as fairly as possible for the welfare and benefit of the community, nation and state.