BOC ZAMBOANGA DESTROYS P323.59-M SMUGGLED CIGARETTES

THE Bureau of Customs, Port of Zamboanga destroyed 5,624 master cases and 1,171 reams of seized and forfeited smuggled cigarettes on November 30, 2023 in a customs-rented warehouse in Bgy. Tetuan, Zamboanga City. The cigarettes worth P323.59 million were seized during separate maritime patrol operations and customs checkpoints in Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, from May to November 2023.

Engineer Arthur G. Sevilla Jr., acting district collector of the Port of Zamboanga, led the destruction which was witnessed by partner agencies in the Bureau’s anti-smuggling campaign.

Among those present were the local government unit, law enforcement agencies, representatives from the Commission on Audit, and other concerned stakeholders.

Sevilla stressed that the seizure and destruction of the contrabands resonate with the instruction of Commissioner Bienvenido Y. Rubio to relentlessly combat the illicit tobacco trade in the country and forge a close partnership with the law enforcement agencies to further strengthen the Bureau’s anti-smuggling campaign.

The cigarettes were drenched in water by elements from the Bureau of Fire Protection, subsequently crushed by payloader equipment, and then disposed of in the sanitary landfill in Bgy. Salaan.

Rubio commended Sevilla and the men and women of the Port of Zamboanga for their vigilance in preventing the entry of illicit cigarettes into the country.

“The Bureau of Customs will be persistent in its relentless efforts in stopping the proliferation of unlawfully imported tobacco products in the country and safeguard the nation’s interests against smugglers,” the BOC commissioner said.