DAVAO CITY — Government forces, and the Bureau of Customs in a joint operation confiscated 19 thousand boxes of smuggled cigarettes worth 1.425 billion pesos in barangay Kajatian in Indanan, Sulu on March 2.
Equipped with Letter of Authority, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) opened the warehouse in Indanan and found the 19,000 cases of assorted imported cigarettes, such as B&E ice menthol, New Far menthol, Souvenir menthol, Cannon menthol, BroadPeak black menthol, and Bravo.
A warehouse representative identified as Nomil K Arani acknowledged the LOA and allowed the team to proceed to inspect the facility where cases of suspected smuggled imported cigarettes were found.
Major General Ignatius Patrimonio, Commander of the Joint Task Force led the team which was composed of army and navy special forces, Customs, and Intelligence operatives found the contrabond stored inside the warehouse owned by Faidasil Sakandal at Sitio Boutan, Barangay Kajatian, Indanan Sulu at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Customs Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Group Juvymax Uy said they immediately acted upon receiving verified information from the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) headed by Director Verne Enciso.
“Remember that this happened in Sulu, in Indanan. Yet, despite how far Mindanao is from us, we ensured that distance won’t stop us from serving the LOA,” Uy said.
“We will stop at nothing and be present in every corner of the Philippines to make sure there won’t be space for these illegal activities,” Uy added.
“Rest assured that we will continue to support the law enforcement operations of our partners from the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Customs, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and other agencies to curb smuggling and other illegal activities in our area of operation,” Galido said.
CIIS Director Enciso added that the recent spate of warehouse raids that led to billions worth of discovery of smuggled items was made possible because Commissioner Patrimonio understands the effect of smuggling on the economy.
“Commissioner Rubio is setting the standard for us. These recent raids are examples of how the agency will work moving forward,” Encio said.
Port of Zamboanga District Collector Arthur Sevilla Jr. immediately issued the Warrant of Seizure and Detention (WSD) against the subject smuggled cigarettes for possible violations of Executive Order No. 245, also known as “Amended Rules and Regulations Governing the Exportation and Importation of Leaf Tobacco and Tobacco Products”, National Tobacco Administration (NTA) Memorandum Circular No. 03, series of 2004; NTA Board Resolution No. 079-2005 in relation to Sec. 1113 (f and Sec. 117 in connection to section 1401 of R.A No. 10863 otherwise known as Customs Modernization and Tariff Act(CMTA) of 2016.
Western Mindanao Command Commanding General Lt. Gen. Roy Galido commended the troops of Joint Task Force Sulu. He attributed this success to good interagency collaboration.
