PAGADIAN CITY – Philippine authorities destroyed some P395 million worth of smuggled cigarettes confiscated in the past six months in western Mindanao.
The Bureau of Customs led the public destruction of the cigarettes in Zamboanga and Pagadian cities on Tuesday, December 13. The second mass destruction of smuggled cigarettes was the second this year after. In May, the Bureau of Customs also destroyed at least P110 million worth of confiscated cigarettes, according to District Collector Segundo Sigmundfreud Barte Jr.
A photo released by the Bureau of Customs shows the confiscated smuggled cigarettes it publicly destroyed on Tuesday, December 13, 2022 in Pagadian and Zamboanga cities in southern Philippines.
He said over 1,200 cases of cigarettes were destroyed. “The contrabands were seized during separate anti-smuggling operations in Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi last May to November 2022,” he said, adding the successful anti-smuggling operations in the South was also supported by various government agencies, including the police and military.
“The Port of Zamboanga recorded more than P500 million worth of confiscated cigarettes for the year in line with the directive of Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz and upon the order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to strengthen measures against smuggling and promote transparency in operations,” Barte said.
Barte did not say who were behind the smuggling of cigarettes or whether any charges had been filed against them in court. (Mindanao Examiner)
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