Two containers filled with more than 1,000 packages of smuggled cigarettes worth P60 million from China were seized at the Manila International Container Port (MICP), the Bureau of Customs said Monday.
A total of 1,599 boxes of Mighty cigarettes were uncovered in a shipment declared as plastic frames, round tubes, plastic bags, and plastic sheets.
The smuggled cigarettes according to the bureau were discovered during a physical examination conducted last Jan. 18 at the MICP.
It was shipped from China and was bound to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) zone in Cavite when the containers were inspected.
The bureau further disclosed that the “shipment was verified to originate from China consigned to a certain YJC International Corp.”
“Upon physical examination, it was discovered that the shipment actually contained 1,599 packages of cigarettes with the brand of Mighty and estimated to have a market value of P60 million,” the Customs bureau added.
A warrant of seizure and detention was issued against the shipment for violation Section 117, in relation to Section 1113, of Republic Act (RA) No. 10863, the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), as well as other relevant guidelines set by the National Tobacco Administration and Bureau of Internal Revenue regulations.
