The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cagayan de Oro seized on September 18 smuggled cigarettes worth an estimated P40 million at Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
BOC’s Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service was alerted about the shipment that arrived from China on September 17 through Project Crocodile, an information sharing scheme between customs administrations of member countries that includes notifying each other of movements of suspicious cigarette shipments.
This led to the immediate issuance of a pre-lodgement control order, followed by an alert order that prompted physical inspection that revealed the smuggled cigarettes.
The shipment was confiscated for violation of the 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 otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
