The Bureau of Customs reported that the BOC- Port of Zamboanga Water Patrol Division seized P25 million worth of smuggled cigarettes off the coastal waters of Sta. Cruz Island last Thursday, 8 December in Zamboanga City.

According to the BoC, elements of the WPD and Enforcement and Security Service- Customs Police Division were conducting maritime patrol around the Sta. Cruz Island when they intercepted a total of 707 master cases of smuggled cigarettes with an estimated value of P25 million on board the wooden motorized vessel M/L Paris.

The 11-man crew of the said vessel failed to provide importation documents for the goods onboard.

The vessel came from Pangutaran, Jolo in Sulu, and was bound for the Barangay. Baliwasan seaside in Zamboanga City.

Segundo Sigmundfreud Barte Jr., District Collector of the Port of Zamboanga said that because of Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz's commitment to upgrade the BoC water assets, the Port of Zamboanga has made successful apprehensions from its marine patrol.

The intensified border control is also in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s directive to curb smuggling activities in our jurisdiction.

The crew members are now undergoing interrogation and profiling.

The vessel and its contrabands were placed under the custody of the BoC for inventory and proper disposition in violation of Section 1113 (a) of Republic Act 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act of 2016, in relation to Section 117 and the Tobacco Exportation and Importation Rules and Regulations.