THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Zamboanga has seized a vessel loaded with smuggled fuel products worth P5.8 million in Zamboanga City, the bureau said in a statement yesterday.
The operation, held last September 9, was prompted by an intelligence report that a vessel departing from Taganak Island, Tawi-Tawi bound for Zamboanga City was carrying smuggled fuel products.
The vessel, M/L Zshahuny II, was seized while its crew was unloading fuel in Barangay Cawit, Zamboanga City.
The BOC said the vessel’s crew failed to present documents proving the lawful importation of the fuel products.
An inventory yielded 89,600 liters of diesel fuel worth approximately P5.8 million while the vessel itself has an estimated value of P3 million.
The captain and crew of the vessel and other facilitators of the fuel smuggling have been profiled for appropriate charges.
