ZAMBOANGA CITY: The Bureau of Customs (BoC) district office in this city was able to seize more than P200 million in smuggled cigarettes from January to October 2019, a local Customs official said over the weekend. BoC district collector Segundo Sigmundfreud Barte Jr. reported that the amount of the 10-month confiscated tobacco products was much more than what his office seized during the same period in 2018. He, however, did not mention the value of last year’s haul. Barte noted that despite the district’s relentless campaign against illegal cigarette importation, “smuggling continues unabated [because the market here in Zamboanga is big] owing to its proximity to Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, which [all want to do business here]. Meanwhile, local Customs personnel observed that the smuggling of rice has declined “because of the national implementation of the law on rice tariffication, prompting former cereal smugglers to legally import the staple.”

Source: Manila Times November 09, 2019 17:45 UTC