1.18 Million Illegal Cigarettes Successfully Secured Langsa Customs

Illegal (ANTARA) cigarettes

JAKARTA - 1.18 million illegal cigarettes in the Young Vocational Area, Aceh Tamiang Regency, with an estimated value of Rp. 1.75 billion, were successfully secured by the Customs and Excise Supervision and Service Team of Type Papuan C Langsa, Aceh Province.

Head of the Customs Supervision and Service Office of Customs Type C Langsa Sulaiman in Banda Aceh, Saturday, January 11, said that the disclosure of the circulation of illegal cigarettes was based on public information.

"The Langsa Customs and Excise Team thwarted the delivery and circulation of illegal cigarettes from transportation facilities on Jalan Medan-Banda Aceh, Pangkalan area, Kejuruan Muda District, Aceh Tamiang Regency, on Wednesday, January 8," he said as quoted by ANTARA.

In taking action against illegal cigarettes, said Sulaiman, the Langsa I Customs and Excise team arrested two perpetrators, namely the initials AS (26) and SB (41), who are now being held at the Langsa Class IIB Penitentiary for further investigation.

Sulaiman said the disclosure of illegal cigarettes was based on public information that there were illegal or excise shipments of cigarettes on Tuesday, January 8.

From this information, the Customs and Excise team patrolled and monitored the route suspected of being the track for illegal cigarette shipments. On Wednesday, January 8, at around 19:00 WIB, the team found and stopped vehicles or transportation facilities suspected of carrying illegal cigarettes.

"The team examined vehicles in which there were US and SB. The team also found cigarettes without excise on various brands covered in sacks containing wood husks. The team immediately secured illegal cigarettes and US and SB," he said.

Sulaiman said the value of the confiscated illegal cigarettes reached Rp1.75 billion. Meanwhile, the potential loss to the state due to not paying excise reached more than Rp1.22 billion.

The two perpetrators, according to him, were charged with violating Article 54 and/or Article 55 of Law Number 39 of 2007 concerning amendments to Law Number 11 of 1995 concerning excise. The minimum penalty is one year and a maximum of five years in prison, or a fine of at least two times and a maximum of 10 times the excise value that should have been paid.

He emphasized that the illegal cigarette action is a Customs and Excise commitment to continue to monitor and take action against illegal goods, especially cigarettes without excise stamps.

"Customs will continue to maximize supervision of the circulation of illegal goods in order to optimize state revenues. Enforcement of illegal cigarettes cannot be separated from public support," said Sulaiman.