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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Customs destroys P183-M haul of smuggled cigarettes in Zamboanga

Customs destroys P183-M haul of smuggled cigarettes in Zamboanga

Published Dec 9, 2020 03:14 pm

The Bureau of Customs has destroyed its P183-million haul of smuggled cigarettes in Zamboanga City that had been seized since September 2020.

(Remus Lim Ong via PNA / MANILA BULLETIN)

A total of 38 shipments containing 5,200 master cases of cigarettes were disposed of in a sanitary landfill in Barangay Salaan, Zamboanga City through crushing by a payloader.

According to the Customs bureau, the smuggled cigarettes mostly came from Taiwan and were seized in separate anti-smuggling operations since September this year.

“The immediate destruction and disposal of such contrabands was ordered by Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero to promote transparency and remove doubts of corruption, theft or pilferage in the agency,” Port of Zamboanga District Collector Segundo Sigmundfreud Barte Jr. said.

Barte said that this is the third condemnation activity of the port for the year following similar activities in May 2020 and September 2020 where they destroyed seized and counterfeit cigarettes, raw materials, and counterfeit internal revenue stamps worth P254 million and P1.5 billion, respectively.

He also said that the Port of Zamboanga has recorded more than P2.2-billion haul of various illicit commodities for the period of January to November 2020.

The district collector also credited the achievement to a more efficient inter-agency coordination with the Bureau’s partner agencies namely the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine National Police, Philippine Marines, Philippine Navy, National Bureau of Investigation, Joint Task Force Zamboanga, the Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Bureau of Internal Revenue, the military, local government and other concerned stakeholders.

He expressed gratitude to their partners for the support and active cooperation in the bureau’s campaign “to remove the stigma of Mindanao as the country’s backdoor for smuggling.”

The condemnation ceremony was witnessed by the local government unit, heads of partner law enforcement agencies, representatives from Commission on Audit, Department of Health, and stakeholders.

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