‘CONTRABAND CIGARETTES BURNED’
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – An estimated P50 million worth of misdeclared cigarettes were burned by the Bureau of Customs in Cagayan de Oro City Wednesday in barangay Mantibugao, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon.
The burning of contraband cgarettes was made possible in Manolo Fortich town, particularly inside the property of Terra Cycliq Corporation in Brgy. Mantibugao, it was learned.
According to BOC Cagayan de Oro’s report, the shipment of misdeclared cigarettes was composed of 1,700 master cases or 85,000 reams with different brands including Royal, Marvel, Mighty, and Two Moon.
The Bureau of Customs also said in its report that the shipment was consigned to a certain Denian Dry Goods Trading. The shipment arrived at the Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT Phividec) in Tagolian, Misamis Oriental from China on September 18, 2020. The consignee has declared the shipment as office furniture. But after BOC inspections, it turned out the shipment contain illegal and contraband cigarettes.
The destruction of the contraband items was witnessed by Atty Elvira Cruz, District Collector of Collection District X. Aty Cruz was also the Officer-in-Charge of Mindanao Container Port. Other BOC officials who witness the destruction were Elizabeth delas Llagas, deputy district collector for operations; Collector Noe Espenilla, deputy collector for operations, MCT; SP/Capt Abdila Maulana, ESS district commander; and IO1 Oliver Valiente, chief of CIIS CDO field station.
“This apprehension is still a result of our continuous intelligence sharing with other government agencies and the international intelligence community to ensure our border protection against smuggling,” 1O1 Valiente, Chief of CIIS CDO pointed out.
Valiente said charges for violation of Section 1400 “Misdeclaration of Goods Description” of Republic Act No. 10863 awaits the consignee of said contraband items.
