Two forty-foot containers of smuggled cigarettes from China worth an estimated P60 million were apprehended by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the Port of Subic.
The two shipments, which arrived on September 5 and September 6 and were consigned to BWFIC Trading, were misdeclared to contain steel wire mesh. Initial examination of the shipments on September 15, however, revealed assorted Union and D&B cigarette brands.
A pre-lodgement control order was issued against one of the shipments while an alert order was issued against the other for violation of National Tobacco Administration (NTA) Memorandum Circular No. 03 Series of 2004 and NTA Board Resolution No. 079-2005, in relation to Section 1113 (f) and Section 1400 (Misdeclaration) of Republic Act No. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
BOC-Subic district collector Maritess Martin said the latest apprehension was part of the agency’s intensified efforts to protect the country’s borders and stop smuggling.
