Palu Customs Destroys Hundreds Of Thousands Of Illegal Cigarettes, Records State Loss Of IDR 853 Million

A number of officials destroyed illegal cigarettes by burning customs and excise action for the end of the year 2023-2024ANTARA/Moh Ridwan.

PALU - The Pantoloan Palu Customs and Excise Supervision and Service Office (KPPBC) noted that state losses reached Rp853 million due to the circulation of illegal cigarettes in seven surveillance areas in Central Sulawesi during the 2023 '2024 period.

"Obviously and excise action against illegal cigarettes that are not attached to excise stamps is still rampant. We continue to take precautions and action to minimize potential state losses," said Head of KPPBC Type Madya Customs C Pantoloan Palu Krisna Wardhana, after the destruction of goods belonging to the State (BMMN) resulting from prosecution in Palu, Antara, Tuesday, October 14.

The items destroyed included 618,660 illegal cigarettes of various brands without burning excise stamps, as well as 253 bottles or 165.8 liters of illegal alcohol etyl (MMEA).

According to Krisna, these items were the result of prosecution in Palu City, Tolitoli Regency, Parigi Moutong, Donggala, Sigi, Buol (Central Sulawesi), and Pasangkayu Regency (West Sulawesi).

"Throughout 2023, 2024 we took 66 actions, and of that number 16 cases were resolved with the imposition of administrative sanctions worth Rp814 million," he said.

He emphasized that this step was an effort by Customs and Excise to secure state revenue while protecting the public from the circulation of illegal goods that pose a risk to health and damage the economy.

As part of the Ministry of Finance, Customs and Excise has the main task of maintaining the traffic of goods from and abroad, collecting state revenues through import duties and excise, and protecting the public from harmful and illegal goods.

Krisna also mentioned that throughout 2025 the trend of customs and excise violations has actually increased. As of October, his party had taken 92 prosecutions with a total of 1.8 million illegal cigarettes confiscated.

This year we are increasingly taking action steps and the results are quite significant. We also hope that the community will play a role in supervising the circulation of illegal goods and report immediately if they find indications of violations," said Krisna.