BARMM Police Seize P17 Million Worth of Imported Cigarettes in Maguindanao del Norte
Key Takeaways
- •Personnel of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region seized P17 million worth of imported Indonesian cigarettes from a truck in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, on Monday.
- •The shipment consisted of 300 large boxes containing various smuggled cigarette brands destined for retailers in Maguindanao del Norte towns and Cotabato City.
- •The driver initially refused to stop at an anti-smuggling checkpoint and attempted to ram pursuing officers before being flagged down with assistance from barangay and municipal officials.
- •The detained driver will be prosecuted both for the foiled smuggling attempt and for endangering the checkpoint personnel.
- •The confiscated boxes are in PRO-BAR custody and will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for proper disposition.
COTABATO CITY — Police foiled an attempt on Monday to deliver P17 million worth of imported cigarettes to retailers in different towns in Maguindanao del Norte and in Cotabato City, both in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Personnel of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) stopped the truck, which was loaded with Indonesian-made cigarettes, after a brief chase at Barangay Nituan in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte.
Policemen, barangay, and municipal officials found 300 large boxes containing different brands of smuggled cigarettes, valued at P17 million, neatly piled on the cargo deck of the van-type truck. The boxes are now in the custody of PRO-BAR and will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for proper disposition.
Police Captain Steffi P. Salanguit, spokesperson of PRO-BAR, told reporters on Tuesday that the driver initially refused to stop at an anti-smuggling checkpoint in the municipality but was eventually flagged down by policemen with the help of barangay and municipal officials.
Ms. Salanguit said the driver is now detained and will be prosecuted for the foiled smuggling attempt and for disrespecting the policemen at the checkpoint, whom he tried to ram as he drove away.
Maguindanao del Norte and Cotabato City are both part of BARMM, the autonomous region in the southern Philippines. Cigarette smuggling has been a recurring enforcement challenge in the Philippines, where untaxed foreign tobacco products undercut government excise revenue and the legal trade. Cigarettes sold in the country are subject to excise taxes, and smuggled shipments that bypass these levies also undercut licensed sellers that pay them, which is why interdiction efforts like Monday's checkpoint operation target shipments before they reach store shelves. Seized smuggled goods in the country are routinely endorsed to the Bureau of Customs, the government's lead anti-smuggling agency, for disposition, making the turnover of the 300 boxes and the prosecution of the detained driver the developments to watch as the case moves forward.
— John Felix M. Unson / BusinessWorld Online
Source: BusinessWorld Online
