 |
| Bureau of Customs photos show the confiscated cigarettes in Zamboanga City. |
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Bureau of Customs here said Friday it has seized some P25 million worth of smuggled cigarettes from a motor launch off the southern port city of Zamboanga and held its 11 crew members.
It said a patrol boat intercepted M/L Paris near Santa Cruz Island while trying to sneak 707 boxes of cigarettes to Zamboanga. The boat originated from the town of Pangutaran in Sulu province.
 |
| M/L Paris |
“The 11-man crew failed to provide importation documents for the goods onboard. The vessel came from Pangutaran, Jolo in Sulu, and was bound to Barangay Baliwasan seaside in Zamboanga City,” said District Collector Segundo Sigmundfreud Barte Jr., adding, “the crew members are now undergoing interrogation and profiling.”
He said the intensified border control is in line with President Ferdinand Marcos’ directive to curb smuggling activities in our jurisdiction. But the Bureau of Customs has – as in previous apprehensions – not release or identify the owners or financiers of the contraband for a still unknown reason.
It was also unclear how cigarette smugglers managed to continue their illegal trade unabated and undetected by authorities in Sulu. The smuggling of cigarettes and other products from nearby Malaysia and Indonesia is so rampant that these contraband are openly sold in public markets and barter trade centers here. (Al Jacinto)
No comments:
Post a Comment