The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Subic intercepted on August 22 four 40-footer containers concealing cigarettes worth an estimated P121 million and misdeclared as various products, including frozen bread.
The containers that came from China and Hong Kong arrived at Subic port on August 22 and were declared to contain frozen cinnamon bread, frozen pineapple pocket bread, snake and ladder board games, dominos board games, and rubber strips. The containers were found to actually contain various cigarette brands.
BOC-Subic Port district collector Maritess Martin said the latest apprehension was the result of “continuous intelligence and investigative work of the port,” noting this is the first time the agency has discovered cigarettes inside a refrigerated container.
She said that “adopting and catching up to the modus operandi of unscrupulous stakeholders played a big role in this apprehension for this is the first time that the BOC has seized cigarettes concealed in a refrigerated container van.”
BOC noted that cigarettes cannot be stored in high-moisture containers like reefer vans, “yet the smugglers found their means on how to use this kind of transportation.”
BOC-Subic Port will be issuing warrants of seizure and detention against the shipments and recommend to BOC’s Bureau’s Action Team Against Smugglers the filing of appropriate criminal charges against the consignees.
“This serves as a warning and reminder to all that BOC will not let up in its effort to protect the border,” Martin said.
Meanwhile, BOC-Subic Port said it has collected P2.396 billion from August 1 to August 27, already exceeding by 16.8% its assigned target of P2.051 billion for the entire month. The port expects that proceeds generated from the auction sale and the remaining three working days of August will further increase the collection district’s revenues.
