CEBU, Philippines - The joint inventory team of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) estimated the amount of the seized Mighty cigarettes to be around P15 million.
"The estimated value is P15 million more or less, at a price of P19,000 per master case/box," said Verne Enciso, chief of BOC-Cebu’s Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS).
Enciso said that, based on their inventory, there were a total of 800 master cases/boxes loaded inside the two 20-footer container vans.
He added that each master case/box contained 50 reams and each ream contained ten packs of Mighty cigarettes.
He said that the seized Mighty cigarettes were already turnover to the BIR-7 for safekeeping and disposal. The main office of the BIR brought an excise team for the joint inventory of the cigarettes.
Last week, CIIS Director Neil Estrella led the opening of the two container vans and they found out that the vans contained Mighty cigarettes with fake excise tax stamps.
Estrella said that by using fake tax stamps, the owner of the shipment tried to evade paying the right taxes to the government. —/GAN (FREEMAN)