The Bureau of Customs (BOC) destroyed smuggled cigarettes worth more than P1.4 million in Barangay Baliwasan, Zamboanga City.
Port of Zamboanga Acting District Collector Arthur Sevilla Jr. said the seized cigarettes were apprehended during various anti-smuggling operations in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi in the first quarter of this year.
“This is the largest condemnation of seized cigarettes in the Port of Zamboanga, following the major apprehension of a warehouse full of cigarettes in Indanan, Sulu, that was spearheaded by Intelligence Group (IG) Deputy Commissioner Juvymax Uy and the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Director Verne Enciso back in March,” he said.
The smuggled cigarettes were seized for violating Section 117 of R.A. 10863 or the “Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) of 2016 in relation to Executive Order Number 245 entitled “Amended Rules and Regulations Governing the Exportation and Importation of Leaf Tobacco and Tobacco Products.”
Sevilla said the bureau will continue to implement anti-smuggling operations and remains steadfast in maintaining close coordination and collaboration with law enforcement agencies to stop smuggling in the country.
“The BOC persistently exerts effort to curb smuggling in all forms. Condemnation and destruction of these smuggled items, along with filing of appropriate criminal charges, will continue to deter the citizenry from committing criminal acts of smuggling,” according to Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio.
The cigarettes were drenched in water and repeatedly crushed by payloader equipment in the presence of all partner agencies and stakeholders. The condemned cigarettes will be transported and disposed of in the sanitary landfill.