2.2 Million Illegal Cigarettes And 3.8 Tons Of Tobacco Iris Destroyed, Magelang Customs Taksir State Losses Rp1.8 Billion

The Customs and Excise Supervision and Service Office of the Customs Type C Magelang destroyed millions of illegal cigarettes. ANTARA/Heru Suyitno

JATENG - The Magelang Customs and Excise Supervision and Service Office destroyed 2,263,796 illegal cigarettes without excise stamps and 3.8 tons of iris tobacco.

"In addition, we also destroyed 3,840 kilograms (kg) of sliced tobacco, 257 liters of beverages containing ethyl alcohol, 5.28 liters from other tobacco processing," said Head of the Customs and Excise Supervision and Service Office of Customs C Magelang Heru Prayitno in Magelang, Central Java, Wednesday, March 1, confiscated by Antara.

He mentioned that the illegal goods that were destroyed had a total value of Rp2,597,061,005 and the potential for state losses reached Rp1,802,105,905.

"These items are illegal excisable goods (BKC) resulting from the enforcement of the Magelang Customs Office in collaboration with other law enforcement officers, including the TNI, especially Subdenpom, the police and Satpol PP," he said.

He hopes that people who find the circulation of illegal cigarettes can report to the Magelang Customs Office through the BKC SILAT application (Public Report Application) and for the Regional Government (Satpol PP) through the SIROLEG application (Ilegal Cigarette Application).

Heru Prayitno said that usually illegal cigarette shipments choose the fastest route, namely through toll roads in the northern coast with various vehicles.

"The Central Java Regional Office starts from Kudus Customs, Semarang, Surakarta, then reaches Tegal as soon as the monitoring meeting, so there are no more opportunities. They think that the north lane or toll road must be arrested by customs officers," he said.

Therefore, the alternative is through the middle and south routes, namely Boyolali, Salatiga, Bawen, and continues to pass through the Kedu area.

According to him, the cars carrying illegal cigarettes in the Magelang Customs area were mostly prosecuted in the Purworejo area.

"If it has been observed that it is in our territory, it is always easier for us to catch it in the Purworejo area, most often there. However, in Wonosobo in early February 2023 we found a car left in the square area containing about 150 thousand illegal cigarettes," he said.