The Bureau of Customs (BOC), together with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), on 22 June intercepted 23 containers of illicit cigarettes valued at P1.7 billion.

The operation stemmed from intelligence information provided by the NBI, which the BOC immediately acted upon, leading to the joint enforcement operation.

During the operation, authorities accounted for all 24 containers: sixteen were located at a private shipping facility in Tondo, Manila; four were found aboard the vessel ASC BIG BOY; and four had already been dispatched to various warehouses.

Three of the dispatched containers were successfully retrieved, while efforts to locate the remaining one container are ongoing. The vessel ASC BIG BOY is now in the custody of the PCG.

Initial inspection confirmed that twenty-three of the containers contained cigarettes without the required tax stamps, as validated by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, with more or less 29,900 master cases valued at approximately P1,716,000,000.

Investigation revealed that the containers were misdeclared as consumer goods and loaded onto the vessel ASC BIG BOY at Pier 7, a private wharf in Cebu, before being transported to another private wharf in Tondo, Manila under the same operator.

The findings indicate possible violations of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (Republic Act No. 10863), particularly on misdeclaration of goods (Section 1400) and unlawful importation (Section 1401), as well as provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code (Republic Act No. 8424), as amended, specifically on the possession and removal of excisable goods without payment of excise tax and without the required tax stamps (Sections 263 and 265).

A full inventory and valuation of the seized goods are currently being conducted by the authorities.

Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno expressed appreciation to the NBI for the timely intelligence information that led to the operation, and to the PCG and BIR for their crucial support during the inspection.

The BOC, together with partner agencies, continues its investigation and case build-up to determine liability and pursue appropriate legal action.