The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Davao seized 1,325 boxes of illegally imported President brand cigarettes from Vietnam worth P24 million, the agency said in a statement yesterday.
The BOC said it seized the cigarettes at the Port of Davao supervised sub-port of Dadiangas.
“The operation was instigated by an advanced information at the shipment’s port of origin, prompting the subsequent issuance of an alert order to Vengeur International Trading’s importation,” the BOC said.
The misdeclaration was confirmed during the physical inspection of the 40-footer container van at the Philippine Ports Authority container yard 2.
The BOC said that of the shipment’s declared 25,000 brand new corrugated boxes, only 1,100 pieces of corrugated boxes were found inside the container van.
However, another 1,325 misdeclared boxes of President cigarettes were also discovered inside the same container.
“The shipment did not only violate Customs Administrative Order 8-2007 or the Description of Imported Articles in Tariff Terms, as implemented in Customs Memorandum Order Number 28-2007 or Goods Declared in General Manner to Avoid Proper Classification and Valuation, but also violated Section 117 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act on import and export of regulated items like cigarettes,” ElenitaAbano, sub-port of Dadiangas’ collector, said.
Erastus Sandino Austria, Port of Davao district collector, warned importers and traders not to use his port or any of his district’s supervised sub-ports for illegal activities as he will never tolerate any form of illicit trade in his district.
“The seizure of this illegal importation of cigarettes from Vietnam should serve as a warning to importers and traders that with strengthened cooperation with international intelligence and anti-crime organizations, we will be a step ahead of whatever their future plans are,” Austria said.