Successful Seizure of Illegal Cigarettes Worth 935 Million Rupiah

According to the local Indonesian media platform ERA on May 8th, the Marang Customs successfully prevented the transportation of hundreds of thousands of illegal cigarettes worth about 935 million rupiahs from the city of Marang on the island of Java. Gunawan Tri Wibowo, the head of Marang Customs, stated that this raid operation was the result of routine inspections conducted by the agency's regular patrol teams from May 3rd to 5th.

Junawan stated in the interview, "Our team conducted this anti-smuggling operation on May 3 and May 5, seizing illegal goods worth 9.35 million rupees." He explained that during routine anti-smuggling sweeps in the Blimbin and Krokern districts of Marang City, a large quantity of untaxed illegal cigarettes were confiscated, totaling approximately 8,000 to 77,400, including brands such as "Mechanically Made White Smoke" (SPM) and "Mechanically Made Kretek Smoke" (SKM), all without tax stamps.

On May 5th, the Marang Customs office received information about an illegal tobacco shipment from the Kadudun area of Marang City to Surabaya City through ground patrol.

The team located the alleged transportation vehicle on Ladan Tumeg Geg Suriyo Road in the Blombinbin district and began tracking it. Eventually, Marang Customs discovered untaxed illegal cigarettes hidden in the vehicle during inspection. The driver, along with the illegal cigarettes and transportation vehicle as evidence, was taken back to the customs office.

In the car, we found 29.6 kilograms (equivalent to 592,000 sticks) of 'SKM mechanical manufactured cigarettes,'" Nugawan said.

According to statistics, during the operation from May 3 to May 5, 2024, Marang Customs seized illegal tobacco worth 9.3549 million rupees, with a total quantity of approximately 677,400 units. This could potentially result in a loss of about 5.0572 million rupees in tax revenue for the country.