The Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Port of Zamboanga will destroy at least Php 395 million worth of smuggled cigarettes on December 13, 2022, in a customs-rented warehouse in Brgy. Baliwasan in Zamboanga City; simultaneous to the public condemnation activities in Pavillion, Dao in Pagadian City.

The BOC, along with representatives from the Commission on Audit, the local government unit, stakeholders, partner agencies, and other operating units, will dispose of more than 11, 219 master cases of cigarettes.

The contrabands were seized during separate anti-smuggling operations in Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi last May to November 2022.

District Collector Segundo Sigmundfreud Barte Jr. has reported that this will be the 2nd condemnation activity of the Port of Zamboanga for the year following the May 2022 destruction of Php 110 million worth of illicit cigarettes. 

The BOC shares the accomplishment with the Task Force for Anti-Smuggling in ZAMBASULTA, composed of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Marines, the Philippine Navy, the National Bureau of Investigation, Joint Task Force Zamboanga, the Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the local government unit. 

The Task Force ensures efficient inter-agency coordination for expeditious actions against smugglers.

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 orders of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to strengthen measures against smuggling and promote transparency in operations. 

The cigarettes will be drenched in water and repeatedly crushed by payloader equipment in the presence of all partner agencies. These will then be disposed of in the sanitary landfill in Brgy. Salaan. (PR/BOC)