The Bureau of Customs said it confiscated P2.2 billion worth of smuggled cigarettes and other related paraphernalia in various ports from May 28 to July 15 as the agency intensified its campaign against illicit tobacco trade.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said in a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III the recently seized items included some P53 million worth of cigarettes sneaked into the country from China through a suspected new smuggling scheme.
Guerrero said the shipment confiscated on July 12 at the Port of Davao had originated from Ningbo, China and was transported by SITC Container Lines Philippines Inc.
Contained in two 2×40 footer containers, its consignee, Golden Aark Enterprise, declared the shipment as “tissue paper.”
The shipment entered the country through the subport of the Mindanao Container Terminal in Misamis Oriental, where it was declared as containing tissue paper and bound for the Port of Davao.
When the cargo reached its final destination, the containers of smuggled cigarettes were not included in its inward foreign manifest despite other customs documents proving the existence of the shipment.
After the BOC and Coast Guard boarded the vessel, it was determined that the containers were on-board the vessel and that they were destined for Port of Davao.
This discrepancy, along with information received by the BOC’s Intelligence Group regarding the suspected smuggled items, led customs officials to seize the shipment at the Port of Davao.
Guerrero ordered the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service to investigate the new modus operandi in smuggling cigarettes into the country.
“Rest assured that the men and women of the Bureau of Customs will remain vigilant and committed in securing our country’s borders against smuggling and other customs fraud,” Guerrero said in his report.
Guerrero said the accreditation of Golden Aark had been revoked and appropriate charges would be filed against the firm and its cohorts.
“From said circumstances, there is prima facie evidence that the carrier, SITC Container Lines Philippines, Incorporated, is abetting the consignee in concealing/smuggling the seized contraband in violation of Republic Act No. 10863 [Customs Modernization and Tariff Act],” Guerrero said.