Smuggled cigarettes seized in Zamboanga

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Navy turned over Tuesday to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in this city a motor boat it apprehended Saturday night off Zamboanga City with a cargo of about 5,000 reams of imported cigarettes with an estimated value of 12 million.

Zamboanga City Customs District Collector Segundo Barte, Jr. said the cigarettes came from Sabah Malaysia and loaded on the M/V Champion owned and operated by Elvison Judaini of Sulu.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero had ordered Barte to step up the campaign cigarette smuggling in the seas of Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Guerrero also directed Barte to coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in this city to help in the filing of cases against smugglers in the Zamboanga peninsula.

Guerrero issued the order after noting that the smuggling of cigarettes in the area continues.

“I want smuggling activities particularly cigarettes and sugar be stopped, in your area. Adopt all possible measures to stop it,” Guerrero told Barte recently.

Among the seized cigarettes turned over by Naval Force in South Western Mindanao commander Rear Admiral Erick Kagaoan to Customs are brands like Fort, Astro, Bravo, and Canon Menthol.

Barte said the Champion was skippered by a man identified only as Boy and two crew members, Azmil Bin Jerry and Kadil Al-Amin Jilhano, all residents of Jolo, Sulu.

He said the cigarettes did not have internal revenue stamps.