THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Northern Mindanao met with fisherfolk from all over Cagayan de Oro City August 12 and urged them to report suspicious activity in their fishing areas that may be attributed to smuggling of imported cigarettes.
The meeting was held at Piaping Itum covered court in barangay Macabalan, this city after an official of the Philippine Navy revealed that cigarette smugglers have shifted their strategies from land to sea transport after the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) relentless seizures in the past months.
Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao representative Ensign Mark Vincent Babanta reported that smugglers that originated in Malaysia are embarking from Nunukan, Sabah and Sarakan to explore the interior seas in Visayas and northeastern Mindanao, bringing with them their illegal cargo.
Babanta further said that the foreign smugglers will then lease bancas of Filipino fisherfolk to unload their cargo shoreline.
This new development was what prompted BOC Port of Cagayan de Oro collector Arnaldo Saulong to call the meeting.
In attendance were representatives of fisherfolk organizations based in barangays Barra, Agusan, Macabalan, Tablon, Lapasan and Bayabas.
Babanta identified at least three areas where smugglers have been sighted – the waters off Camiguin; (Balingasag, Misamis Oriental); and Nasipit, Agusan del Norte.
With this, district Customs Intelligence and Investigation (CIIS) chief Redford Surposa strictly warned fisherfolk from renting their bancas to the smugglers.
“Your bancas will not just be confiscated, you will face smuggling charges as well,” Surposa said.
For his part, Saulong said that each pack of imported cigarette smuggled into the country is a depravity of tax – money that should have been used for public service.
