MANDAUE CITY — The government’s anti-smuggling campaign intensified on Saturday as National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Melvin Matibag and Bureau of Customs (BoC) Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno inspected 25 container vans loaded with smuggled cigarettes from China at the Gothong private wharf, while warning that criminal charges will soon be filed against the businessmen believed to be behind the multibillion-peso operation.

The shipment, part of what authorities described as one of the country’s biggest tobacco smuggling cases, is valued at about P3 billion.

Matibag said investigators are now building airtight cases against several Cebu-based businessmen allegedly linked to the illegal shipments.

“In due time, we will file the appropriate charges under the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act and other economic sabotage laws,” Matibag said.

He stressed that authorities will go beyond arresting truck drivers and company employees.

“It’s not only the drivers or personnel who will face charges. We are also going after the incorporators of the company involved,” he said.

Authorities identified Tandia Cargo Handling Services as the processor of the confiscated shipments.

Nepomuceno said records indicate it was the company’s first transaction with the Bureau of Customs.

“We have already requested from the Securities and Exchange Commission the records of Tandia’s incorporators, and we will not hesitate to file strong cases against those responsible,” the BoC chief said.

During the inspection, Matibag and Nepomuceno briefed reporters on the enforcement operation and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to dismantling tobacco smuggling syndicates and other forms of economic sabotage.

Also present was newly appointed Cebu Port District Collector Atty. Zsae Carrie C. de Guzman, who assumed office on 6 July, succeeding Alexandra Yap-Lumontad.

The cigarette seizure, however, was carried out during Lumontad’s tenure.

The operation began on 2 July after the issuance of a Letter of Authority and Mission Order under Section 224 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

Acting on intelligence provided by the NBI and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Customs personnel inspected 25 20-foot container vans at the Gothong private wharf in Mandaue City.

The inspection uncovered illicit cigarettes initially estimated at P980 million, making it one of the largest anti-smuggling operations in Central Visayas. However, Nepomuceno said the total value of cigarette seizures linked to the operation has now reached P3 billion, covering 36 container vans in Cebu and 23 more container vans at the Port of Manila.

A month earlier, the NBI-Cebu also confiscated 11 container vans loaded with smuggled cigarettes — five 40-foot containers at Gothong Wharf and six more in Barangay Bacayan, Cebu City — with an estimated value of P890 million.