Police in Bandung, Indonesia, have seized 6,624 bottles of alcoholic beverages suspected of bearing counterfeit excise stamps, the latest in a series of cases highlighting tax evasion in the country’s alcohol trade.
Investigators say a suspect removed genuine tax stamps from bottles, sold them online and replaced them with newly printed fakes. Some of the alcohol may also have been brought in from other provinces and repackaged into smaller containers for sale.
The seizure follows a larger operation in Bali in July, when customs officials and the military’s strategic intelligence agency confiscated more than 19,000 bottles of wines and spirits suspected of carrying counterfeit excise stamps.
In Bandung, police raided a house in Pameungpeuk district, Bandung regency, after receiving reports that it was being used to store and distribute alcohol, according to Indonesian news outlet AFU.ID.
“We received a tip from members of the public that a house was being used to store alcoholic beverages — or, you could say, as a distribution point, given the large quantity of products and the variety of brands stored there,” Bandung police chief Aldi Subartono said Aug. 8.
Officers found 6,624 bottles across several brands at the property. Investigators allege that a suspect identified by the initials EM removed the original excise stamps and printed replacements.
“The original excise stamps were peeled off, and the suspect then printed new ones,” Aldi said.
The genuine stamps were collected and sold online to other operators, he said. The counterfeits were affixed to bottles at the property, making them appear to carry official proof of tax payment.
Police also suspect that some of the alcohol came from other provinces and was repackaged into smaller containers before being sold to consumers.
The stamps, known in Indonesia as pita cukai, serve as proof that excise duty has been paid and help authorities monitor the movement of taxable goods. They incorporate security features, and their designs and specifications are periodically revised to deter counterfeiting.
Indonesia levies alcohol excise duty according to alcoholic strength and whether a product is domestically produced or imported, creating a financial incentive for illicit operators to evade payment.
According to rates published by Indonesian customs, Category A beverages, primarily beer, containing up to 5% alcohol are taxed at 16,500 rupiah, or about $1, per liter, regardless of origin.
For Category B beverages including wine containing more than 5% and up to 20% alcohol, the rate rises to 42,500 rupiah, or about $2.58, per liter for domestic products and 53,000 rupiah, or about $3.21, for imports.
Category C beverages containing more than 20% and up to 55% alcohol face the highest rates: 101,000 rupiah, or about $6.12, per liter for domestic products and 152,000 rupiah, or about US$9.21, for imports.
That means a 750-milliliter bottle of imported spirits at 40% alcohol carries about 114,000 rupiah, or US$6.91, in excise duty alone. A bottle of imported wine of the same size falling within Category B incurs about 39,750 rupiah, or US$2.41.
Those charges exclude customs duties and other taxes that may apply to imports. For lower-priced alcoholic beverages, the combined tax burden can account for a substantial share of costs.
Counterfeit stamps can allow operators to evade excise duty while presenting their products as tax-paid, potentially helping illicit goods enter legitimate sales channels.
In the July operation in Bali, the popular tourist destination, authorities seized 19,142 bottles of wine and spirits across multiple brands, totaling about 14,400 liters. The haul was nearly three times the size of the Bandung seizure.
Officials valued the alcohol at about 12.55 billion rupiah, or US$711,000, and estimated potential losses to state revenue at 2.14 billion rupiah, or US$121,000.
Customs officials said the products were intended to supply the Bali market. The agency said it would continue monitoring hotels, cafes and other venues that might sell alcohol without excise stamps or with counterfeit ones on the tourism-dependent island.
Authorities uncovered another large case in East Java in 2024, finding unstamped alcohol and suspected counterfeit stamps for imported beverages on a truck. A subsequent warehouse search yielded thousands of cases of alcohol.
Police in Bandung are still investigating the source of the seized products, their distribution network and the movement of the counterfeit stamps. Whether the operation was part of a wider illicit alcohol supply chain remains unclear.
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