BEIJING: Customs officials seized at least P10 million worth of fake tobacco products and other goods after a series of raids on two warehouses on Wednesday. Sonny Sarmiento, technical assistant at the office of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, said the raid was conducted in the wake of intelligence reports about rampant smuggling in Northern Mindanao, including this city.
Sarmiento said Faeldon approved the raids against the warehouses owned by a certain Mr. Chan. It was also backed by operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). He said the Customs bureau was able to determine that the goods were counterfeit with the help of experts in detecting fake goods. A bulk of the seized goods are cigarettes of different brand names that originated in China and Taiwan.
Sarmiento said the more than 300 boxes of cigarettes alone were worth at least P7.5 million based on prevailing market prices. Aside from cigarettes, also seized were firecrackers, insecticides, medicines and mosquito killers. Sarmiento said the bureau would give owners of the items a chance to explain and show importation documents. Lawyer Roswald Joseph Pague, regional assistant Customs collector, said the seized goods would be stored in the Customs district office.
