CEREMONIAL DESTRUCTION. Mayor John Dalipe (2nd right) and Bureau of Customs-Port of Zamboanga acting district collector, Engr. Arthur Sevilla (right), lead the ceremonial destruction of confiscated smuggled cigarettes in Zamboanga City on Friday (April 28, 2023). Sevilla said the 19,419 masters cases and 667 reams of smuggled cigarettes that were seized during a series of anti-smuggling operations in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi in the first quarter of 2023. (PNA photo by Teofilo P. Garcia Jr.)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Port of Zamboanga led the destruction of more than PHP1.4 billion worth of smuggled cigarettes here Friday.
Engr. Arthur Sevilla, BOC-Port of Zamboanga acting district collector, said the destroyed cigarettes were seized during the 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.
He said most of the 19,419 master cases and 667 reams of cigarettes were those seized at a warehouse in Indanan, Sulu on March 2.
“This is by far the largest condemnation of seized smuggled cigarettes in the port of Zamboanga,” Sevilla said.
The cigarettes were drenched in water and repeatedly crushed by heavy equipment in the presence of partner agencies and stakeholders in the anti-smuggling campaign. The crushed cigarettes were later transported and disposed of at the city’s sanitary landfill in Barangay Salaan.
Sevilla assured the BOC-Port of Zamboanga continues to implement intensified anti-smuggling operations and remains steadfast in maintaining closed coordination and collaboration with other law enforcement agencies.
He said the condemnation of seized smuggled cigarettes is consistent with the standing order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against all forms of smuggling. (PNA)
