Surakarta Customs And Excise Seizes 31,500 Illegal Cigarettes And Secures Two Perpetrators

Customs and Excise secure evidence of illegal cigarettes/Photo: Antara

SOLO - The Surakarta City Customs Office has confiscated 31,500 cigarettes illegally or with fake excise tapes which were secured in Boyolali and Sukoharjo Regencies, Central Java Province.

"In addition to confiscating 31,500 illegal cigarettes, we also detained two perpetrators, namely the initials AM and SPR who are currently being investigated for development at the Surakarta Customs Office," said the Head of the Investigation and Enforcement Section of the Surakarta City Customs Office, Hari Prijandono, in Solo, Tuesday. March 29.

According to Hari Prijandono, the two dealers or sellers of illegal cigarettes were identified thanks to information from the public. Officers arrested AM with evidence of illegal cigarettes, in the Sawit area, Boyolali Regency, on March 24, 2022.

"When AM was inspected for illegal cigarettes or without an official excise stamp, they were kept in a basket on his motorbike," he said, as quoted by Antara.

The officers then searched the house of perpetrator AM, in Baki District, Sukoharjo, and found evidence of other illegal cigarettes. Officers in the development of securing SPR perpetrators in Kartasura District, Sukoharjo. At the SPR location, evidence was also found in the form of illegal cigarettes ready to be distributed.

Customs officers then took the two perpetrators and evidence of 31,500 illegal cigarettes to the Customs office for further examination. The two perpetrators will be handed over to the police for legal proceedings.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Surakarta Customs Office, Budi Santoso, said that the illegal cigarettes used as evidence were valued at IDR 35,910,000. Assuming the value of machine-made kretek cigarettes (SKM) is IDR 1,140 per stick. Meanwhile, the potential loss to the state is IDR 24 million.

He said that this year, the Surakarta Customs and Excise will continue to intensify its actions related to the circulation of illegal cigarettes. Because, there will be an increase in excise rates which has the potential to increase violations in the excise sector, especially in tobacco or cigarette products.

In addition, his party has also synergized with the district/city government, and local law enforcement officers who are the operational work areas.

"We hope that this synergy can provide maximum results, namely that the circulation of illegal cigarettes in the Solo Raya area can be suppressed," he said.

The two perpetrators were sentenced for violating Article 54 and/or Article 56 of the Republic of Indonesia Law Number 11 of 1995 concerning Excise as has been amended several times, most recently by the Republic of Indonesia Law No. 7 of 2021 junto Article 55 paragraph (1) of the 1st Criminal Code.