BERITA TERKINI
JAKARTA, DDTCNews - The Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) carried out 5,451 enforcement actions against the circulation of illegal cigarettes domestically throughout January–April 2026.
The frequency of illegal cigarette enforcement actions increased by 23.3% compared with last year’s 4,420 actions. Not only that, the number of cigarettes seized also surged 125.8% to 684 million sticks.
"The number of illegal cigarettes seized [up to April] in 2025 was 303 million sticks, whereas in 2026 it reached 684 million sticks," said Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, as quoted on Saturday (23/5/2026).
From the thousands of illegal cigarette enforcement activities, state funds saved through the ultimum remedium approach or non-criminal settlement reached Rp53.4 billion.
According to Purbaya, the increase in both the number of enforcement actions and illegal cigarettes intercepted demonstrates the seriousness of DJBC officers in carrying out their supervisory function. He also urged DJBC staff to maintain or even accelerate their performance to become faster and more professional.
"[Illegal cigarettes seized] as of April are up more than 100%, or double. So it seems customs and excise officers have started working more seriously," he said.
Purbaya stated that DJBC will use more modern and sophisticated technology to make their work more effective, particularly in carrying out supervision and law enforcement. In doing so, oversight of the circulation of excisable goods will be tighter and violations easier to detect, so that state revenue can be maintained.
In addition to illegal cigarettes, DJBC also intensified enforcement against narcotics trafficking, carrying out 522 actions. From those activities, officers seized evidence weighing 3.31 tonnes, slightly less than last year’s 3.79 tonnes.
"Going forward, the technology deployed there will, I think, be even better. So colleagues in customs and excise, keep working like that — otherwise, we’ll transfer or stand you down," said Purbaya. (dik)
