Bureau of Customs-Port of Cagayan de Oro destroyed a total of 2,027 master cases of smuggled cigarettes worth P16,000,000.00 inside the facility of Greenleaf 88 Non-Hazardous Waste Disposal in Brgy. Bayabas, Cagayan de Oro last February 18, 2022.

The cigarettes destroyed through shredding include the brand YS Red, Titan Green and Titan Red which were seized in two separate shipments from China declared as “used furniture”.

Present during the destruction were Atty. Elvira Cruz, District Collector; Elizabeth Delas Llagas, Deputy Collector for Operations; Atty. Roswald Joseph Pague, Deputy Collector for Administration; Oliver Valiente, Chief, CIIS CDO Field Station; SP/Capt. Abdila Maulana Jr., District Commander, ESS-CDO, Marvin Mison, Chief, Assessment CDO and was witnessed by the Richard Hart Paragas, representative of PMFTC the Philippine affiliate of Philip Morris International.

In a statement, Cruz stressed the important message of condemnation activities to smugglers to halt their unscrupulous activities defrauding the government of revenues which also disrupts the tobacco industry in the country.

BOC Cagayan de Oro also assured to assist in the filing of cases against consignees of the said shipment through the legal arm of BOC the Bureau’s Action Team Against Smugglers (BATAS).

Furthermore, the condemnation of seized, forfeited, or abandoned goods will also help in decongesting ports from overstaying containers to improve trade facilitation.