THE Bureau of Customs-Port of Davao (BOC-Davao) seized around P85 million worth of smuggled cigarettes as of October 2022, making it the highest worth of smuggled goods for this year.
Lawyer Erastus Sandin Austria, BOC-Davao District Collector, presented in a press conference Wednesday, October 5 that they had seized smuggled cigarettes with an estimated value of P85,225,607.49.
This is followed by vehicles with P15,308,486.14, and agricultural products with P1,252,336. This brings the total value to P101,786,429.63.
The amount is higher than the total amount of seized commodities in 2021 with P38,845,101.94.
On that year, cigarettes also became the high-valued smuggled commodities with P24,133,411.91, followed by agriculture products with P10,127,936.34, chemicals or toxic substances with P2,736,786.53, electronics (P547,788.95), used clothing (P500,000), medicine and cosmetics (P447,614), and general merchandise (P351,564.15).
Austria said they were able to seize the smuggled items by intensifying its monitoring and inspections in various stores suspected to be selling smuggled items.
"Dako kaayo ang (It has a huge) potential tax leakage," he said.
Their activities coordinate with various law enforcement agencies in the Davao Region, Soccsksargen, and even in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which resulted in their higher apprehension activities.
However, he admitted determining a smuggled item is difficult to determine.
"Because it is in a market place, it is difficult for us to determine, except kung makita namo sa item mismo kung asa ni migikan (if we would see the items and its point of origin)," Austria said.
With the vast coastline in Southern Mindanao, the official said they are in close coordination with major trading partners in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Recently, he said their office received intelligence reports that small-wooden vessels are being used to sneak in smuggled items.
For the Port of Davao, Austria said they do not encounter any problems with regards to containerized cargoes, but with the shift of the importation of cigarettes in BOC's area of responsibility, they are now focusing their inspection in the marketplace.
"We are sending this message to anybody who has the idea of conducting these activities that it will be costly for them to do so," he said.
On September 1, BOC and security authorities intercepted a luxury car mis-declared as used automobile parts in a joint physical examination. The discovery of the smuggled luxury vehicle stemmed from the intelligence report from the Philippine National Police – Sasa Police Station.
A Warrant of Seizure and Detention has been issued against the shipment for violation of Section 1400 concerning Section 1113 of R.A. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon L. Ruiz ordered the continuously strengthening coordination with partner law enforcement agencies, by bolstering information sharing to thwart the smuggling of anti-social commodities. RGL