Smuggled cigarettes destroyed

THE Bureau of Customs-Port of Zamboanga (BoC-PoZ) has destroyed smuggled cigarettes worth at least P245.8 million on orders of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero.

Zamboanga District Collector Segundo Sigmundfreud Barte Jr. said the confiscated cigarettes were crushed by a 40-ton forklift after they were drenched in water.

“The destruction of contrabands is pursuant to the instruction of Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero to destroy smuggled cigarettes once the final decree of forfeiture is rendered,” he added.

“This is is also part of the agency’s drive to combat smuggling and will serve as a warning to smugglers to stop their illegal activities, Barte said.

He expressed his appreciation to all law enforcement agencies in the city for their continuous support to the anti-smuggling drive of the Customs bureau.

Earlier, the BoC- PoZ and the Philippine Navy also destroyed some P2.2 million worth of fake cigarettes amid orders from the Finance department to intensify its crackdown on the illegal trade and others forms of smuggling.

Guerrero said there would be no letdown in the bureau’s efforts to rid the country of faked and smuggled goods in order to protect local and legitimate businesses as well as to protect the public from the health risks that the fake cigarettes may cause.

He added that fake goods seized by the Bureau of Customs would be destroyed to ensure that they would not be recycled to the local market.