The Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Port of Zamboanga led the destruction of more than PHP 1.4 billion in contraband cigarettes on Friday.
The damaged cigarettes were captured during a series of anti-smuggling operations in the Zamboanga Peninsula and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi during the first quarter of the year, according to Engr. Arthur Sevilla, BOC-Port of Zamboanga acting district collector.
He claimed that the majority of the 19,419 master cases and 667 reams of cigarettes seized on March 2 came from a warehouse in Indanan, Sulu.
The cigarettes were soaked in water and repeatedly crushed by heavy equipment in the presence of anti-smuggling campaign partners and stakeholders. The crushed cigarettes were then taken to the city's sanitary dump in Barangay Salaan and disposed of.
Sevilla promised that the BOC-Port of Zamboanga will continue to intensify anti-smuggling operations and will maintain tight coordination and collaboration with other law enforcement authorities.
He stated that the condemnation of captured contraband cigarettes is consistent with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s standing edict against all forms of smuggling.
