Makassar Customs Confiscates One Million Illegal Cigarettes

MAKASSAR - The Customs and Excise Supervision and Service Office (KPPBC) of Makassar Customs Type B thwarted the circulation of illegal goods by confiscating 1,099,800 illegal cigarettes or excisable tobacco products without excise tapes attached from abroad.

"One person, with the initials C, is 41 years old," said Head of the Southern Sulawesi (Sulbagsel) Regional Office of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC), Nugroho Wahyu Widodo, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, March 22.

The perpetrator has been named a suspect and has been detained at the Makassar Port Police Detention Center for 20 days.

The threat of punishment for the perpetrators of the illegal circulation of BKC HT can be snared under Article 54 and Article 56 of Law Number 39 of 2007 concerning Amendments to Law Number 11 of 1995 concerning Excise.

"The total value of the goods is estimated at more than IDR 1.2 billion with a potential state loss of IDR 915.1 million," said Nugroho.

The prosecution of the case, he said, was based on information received by intelligence from Team P2 KPPBC TMP B Makassar knowing that there was an illegal shipment of cigarettes from Jakarta brought by the roro ship KM Dharma Rucitra VII from Surabaya which arrived at Barru Harbor on March 11, 2022.

Furthermore, on March 12, 2022, the team of officers followed up on this information by conducting surveillance and inspection during the unloading of the goods by the shipping company around Jalan Dr. Ir Sutami Makassar on suspicion of carrying illegal goods.

On March 14, 2022, the team of officers coordinated with the shipping service, and the results of the inspection found 50 cartons of cigarettes without excise tapes attached with the Hongshuangxi and Jinyexiang brands or cigarettes from abroad.

Likewise, a travel document containing the sender's initials M was sent from the City of Jakarta to Lembo, Morowali Southeast Sulawesi, to the recipient with the initials T. The evidence was then taken to the Makassar Customs Office for further research and development.

The results of the development found dozens of boxes from March 18-19 2022, with a total confiscation of 110 boxes containing illegal cigarettes from China. Of that number, 90 cartons were upgraded to investigation status, and 20 cartons were further developed.