CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Northern Mindanao destroyed P75 million worth of smuggled cigarettes at a facility in Barangay Mantibugao in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon on Tuesday.
Oliver Valiente, BOC regional Intelligence and Investigation Service chief, said the cigarettes were intercepted at the Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
He noted that the boxes are printed with “Made in the Philippines,” but the cigarettes came from China.
Valiente said the shipment, which arrived at the MCT in January, was misdeclared by the consignee, Sixty Nine Enterprises, as kitchenware.
“Upon examination, the shipment revealed 135,700 reams of assorted cigarettes,” he said.
Valiente said charges were filed against the consignees of the shipment and the brokers who facilitated its release.