By LITO RULONA
Correspondent
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized some P15 million worth of cigarettes at the Mindanao Container Port and Terminal (MCPT) in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental on Wednesday afternoon.
Customs deputy commissioner for intelligence Teddy Raval led a group in confiscating boxes of cigarettes in a 40-foot container van that was declared to contain disposal diapers. The cigarette packs had markings that appeared Chinese.
Raval said the cargo was consigned to a firm called “Black Petal Commercial” in Purok 10, Sitio Baloy, Barangay Tablon, this city, but the company reportedly sent a letter to the BOC, denying ownership of the cigarettes.
Raval said the cargo was brought to the Tagoloan port on Dec. 13, 2016 by MV Torres Straight V.1635. He said the contents were declared to be disposable diapers from 24 Jurong Port Road #02-03 with the shipper name Consumer Marketing.
“But when we checked the inner part, we realized it was mostly cigarettes,” said Raval, adding that it was a misdeclaration.
He said the customs bureau would file charges for violation of Section 1400 in relation to Section 1113 of the Customs Traffic Act.
BOC-10 investigation chief Alvin Enciso said that while Black Petal Commercial was the consignee, the firm did not file import papers, prompting the customs bureau to order the confiscation of the products.
“We are investigating in order to determine who are really behind and involved in this shipment,” he said.
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