The Bureau of Customs seized more than P24 million worth of smuggled cigarettes at the Dadiangas Port in General Santos City, Mindanao province.
Dadiangas Sub-port Collector Elenita Abano said the shipment was declared as 25,000 brand new corrugated boxes but upon inspection, customs examiners found 1,325 misdeclared boxes of President cigarettes.
The illegally imported President brand cigarettes came from Vietnam and valued at P24, 843,750.00, Albano said.
Albano added that the shipment did not only violate Customs Administrative Order (CAO) 8-2007 or the “Description of Imported Articles in Tariff Terms,” as implemented in Customs Memorandum Order Number (CMO) 28-2007 or “Goods Declared in General Manner to Avoid Proper Classification and Valuation,” but also violated Section 117 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) on import and export of regulated items like cigarettes”.