MANILA: The Bureau of Customs in Region 10 (BOC-10) has seized P15 million worth of cigarettes illegally imported from Singapore.
The shipment of the cigarettes, which were in a 40-foot container van from Singapore, was consigned to Black Petal Commercial, Purok 10, Baloy Highway Tablon, Cagayan de Oro City.
Lawyer Teddy Raval, BOC Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Group (IG), supervised the media viewing, Wednesday, of the illegal shipment at the Designated Examination Area.
He said the BOC was able to seize the shipment after this was abandoned by the consignee which did not file the necessary entry documents for the shipment.
Raval said the BOC got wind of the illegal shipment after the estimated 700 to 800 boxes of cigarettes were alerted upon its entry at the Mindanao Container Terminal, here, on December 13, 2016.
Raval said the cigarette shipment was mis-declared as disposable diapers, which only amounts to 30 packs.
The cigarettes were under the brand names “Septwolves” and “Farstar,” and bore Chinese characters on their label.
Intelligence Officer II Alvin Enciso, chief of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) of Cagayan de Oro ports and sub-ports, said the cigarettes were considered premium items, and were to be marketed for other Asian nationals in the country.
“We expect more to arrive after this, but, perhaps, they held it due to the alert order given to this shipment,” Enciso said.
Raval said appropriate charges for violation of Sec. 1400 in relation to Sec. 1113 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act for mis-declaring the cigarette shipment as disposable diapers.
