BOC confiscates P1.44 billion smuggled cigarettes

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has apprehended P1.44 billion worth of smuggled cigarettes in Mindanao as the illegal entry of the commodity remains rampant.

The BOC said its Port of Zamboanga destroyed a total of 19,419 cases and 667 reams of smuggled cigarettes over the weekend.

The BOC estimated that the total value of the illicit items reached P1.44 billion. The smuggled cigarettes were apprehended in Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Customs said that this is by far the largest condemnation of seized cigarettes in the Port of Zamboanga, following the major apprehension of a warehouse full of cigarettes in Sulu in March.

As part of the process, the smuggled cigarettes were drenched in water and crushed by payloader equipment. The illicit goods are to be transported and disposed of in the sanitary landfill.

Anti-smuggling group Fight Illicit Trade (Fight IT) earlier estimated that the government is losing some P24.7 billion in revenues per year due to cigarette smuggling.

Roughly 14 percent of cigarettes or about nine billion sticks consumed in the country are illicit.

For one, half of the stores in Mindanao, especially in Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga, are openly selling illicit cigarettes.

In turn, the country’s legitimate cigarette manufacturers are being challenged by the unabated smuggling.

Smuggled cigarettes are sold at P2 per stick, easily undercutting legitimate cigarettes by not paying excise taxes. It should be noted that the lowest priced tax-paid cigarette is sold at P6 per stick.

As smuggling remains unabated, tobacco farmers and cigarette manufacturers in neighboring Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Indonesia are benefiting from the entry of these products into the country’s borders.

Further, the BOC said the entry of smuggled cigarettes is a violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

The BOC emphasized that it would continue to implement intensified anti-smuggling operations and maintain close coordination with law enforcement agencies.