By Betheena Unite
Instead of furniture, boxes of “Two Moon” cigarettes were found inside two containers from China at the Port of Manila Friday, the Bureau of Customs said.
(BOC / MANILA BULLETIN)
Two containers filled with misdeclared cigarettes worth P34.7 million were found during 100-percent physical inspection by Customs agents following “derogatory information” received by the Customs Enforcement Group.
The seized cigarettes bearing the “Two Moon” brand were declared as furnitures and blinds.
The two containers separately arrived from China into the Philippines last April 27 and May 1 and were consigned to Vierport International Co. and Anikas Will Industry Corp., respectively.
According to the bureau, the shipments were put on hold a day after arrival dates and were finally examined on Friday.
The containers were opened by port officials and agents from Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as the shipments were alerted due to derogatory information that it could contain contraband.
District Collector Arsenia Ilagan ordered the issuance of Warrants of Seizure and Detention against the shipments for violation of Section 1400 “Misdeclaration, Misclassification and Undervaluation in Goods Declaration” in relation to Section 1113 “Property Subject Seizure and Forfeiture” of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
“The BOC-Port of Manila will continue to be vigilant against customs fraud and fulfill its mandate to strengthen border security,” Ilagan said.