Indonesia: Pekanbaru Customs Destroys Illegal Cigarettes

Source from:  The Jakarta Post  11/08/2013

The Pekanbaru Customs and Excise Office destroyed hundreds of thousands of packs of illegal cigarettes and improperly used cigarette revenue stamps that were confiscated during a raid in Pekanbaru, on Thursday.

The office's head Aminuddin said 830,964 packs of illegal cigarettes with brands including Genius, Laster Filter (Logga) and J'Cool were confiscated during two separate raids of a warehouse on Jl. Surabaya and of a tobacco processing factory in Jl.Gunung Kidul, Pekanbaru, on March 7.

"As many as 208,160 cigarettes that had not yet been packaged and 2,595,605 cigarette revenue stamps have also been destroyed," said Aminuddin on the sidelines of the incineration of the illegal cigarettes and revenue stamps at Roesmin Nurjadin Airport's firing range.

Head of information services Ali Winoto added that during the raid, the Pekanbaru Customs and Excise Office had also confiscated several trucks and cargo vans that were used to distribute the illegal cigarettes.

Aminuddin said the crime might have cost the state more than Rp 2 billion (US$176,000).

"The perpetrators have been brought to justice. The court punished them with one year in prison," he said. Enditem