The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has stepped up its campaign against smuggling by destroying smuggled cigarettes worth P1.44 billion in the largest ever seizure at the port of Zamboanga.
BOC confiscated 19,419 cases and 667 reams in various anti-smuggling operations in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi in the first quarter of 2023.
The destruction took place in a customs-rented warehouse in Barangay Baliwasan, Zamboanga City last April 28.
The condemned master cases of cigarettes were seized for violating Section 117 of Republic Act 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act 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.
“The BOC persistently exerts effort to curb smuggling in all forms. Condemnations 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,” Customs commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said.