BOC-Port of Limay. Photo by Ernie Esconde
LIMAY, Bataan — The Bureau of Customs-Port of Limay announced on Monday the confiscation of smuggled cigarettes loaded in a container van in this town last Wednesday.
Lawyer William B. Balayo, BOC-Port of Limay district collector, said the container van upon inspection was found loaded with estimated 400 master cases of smuggled Gem cigarettes.
The cigarettes and truck were secured by the BOC’s Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) and to be subjected to investigation and inquest proceedings for possible violation of Section 1113 of RA 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the district collector said.
The BOC through the ESS and Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service of the Port of Limay together with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, drug enforcement unit of the Bataan police and the Limay drug enforcement unit conducted the seizure.
Balayo said the joint operation stemmed from information received by the ESS that a container van was loaded with illegal drugs but it turned out instead that smuggled cigarettes were onboard.
PDEA immediately conducted K9 sweeping inside the container van and the master cases of cigarettes but narcotics dogs found no traces of illegal drugs, the district collector said.
“BOC under the leadership of BOC commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero assured the public that it will continue to be vigilant in protecting the country’s boarders against the proliferation of illicit goods,” Balayo said.
