P9.6-M smuggled cigarettes intercepted by Customs in Zamboanga City
The Bureau of Customs - Port of Zamboanga (BOC-POZ) has seized P9.6 million worth of smuggled cigarettes from a fishing boat traversing the waters of Manalipa, Zamboanga City, authorities reported Friday, June 24.

The BOC-POZ, through its Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) and Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), said they conducted a joint operation with the 2nd Zamboanga City Mobile Force Company “Seaborne” against FB Jamaika, a wooden watercraft traversing Manalipa waters last June 21, after they received information that the vessel was allegedly carrying smuggled cigarettes.
The anti-smuggling operation resulted to the successful interception of the watercraft carrying ten crew members who came from Jolo, Sulu and were bound to Cotabato City.
The BOC-POZ said the crew members were transporting 275 master cases and 32 reams of smuggled Fort White Cigarettes with an estimated total value of P9.6 million.

District Collector Segundo Sigmundfreud Z. Barte Jr. said that from January to June 2022, the POZ has apprehended a total of P153 million worth of smuggled goods, and condemned P110 million worth of cigarettes since April 2022.
Barte reiterated that the BOC and partner law enforcement agencies will not cease to continue intensifying border control against smuggling and other customs fraud pursuant to Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero’s mandate.
The seized watercraft and the master cases of cigarettes are under the custody of the BOC for proper disposition for violation of Section 1113 (a) of Republic Act 10863 otherwise known as the “Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) of 2016 in relation to Section 117 and “Tobacco Exportation and Importation Rules and Regulations” being implemented by the National Tobacco Administration pursuant to Executive Order No. 245.