Sorsogon - smuggled cigarettes worth over P1 million were discovered.

Matnog Port in Sorsogon has been the site of a recent anti-smuggling operation conducted by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Port of Legazpi and the Philippine Coast Guard. The operation resulted in the confiscation of 16 boxes of smuggled cigarettes, amounting to an estimated value of P1,061,200. The cigarettes, comprising 758 reams, were discovered to be transported without legal documents and revenue seals in an Urvan Shuttle from Ongpin, Manila, to Cebu City.

The National Internal Revenue Code of the Philippines and Republic Act No. 8424, popularly known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, both have provisions that are violated by the act of smuggling cigarettes, according to the BOC.

Photo from BOC

BOC Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio emphasized the agency's unwavering commitment to halt smuggling and collect lawful revenue for the government. Meanwhile, BOC Collector Segundo Sigmundfreud Barte Jr. announced that the agency's Border Patrol team would continue to strictly enforce customs laws and regulations, in line with one of Commissioner Rubio's five-point agendas, which is to curb smuggling in the country and collect lawful revenue.