By Ferdinand Patinio/PNA
The Bureau of Customs-Port of Cagayan de Oro (BOC-CDO) has destroyed P75 million worth of assorted smuggled cigarettes.
In a statement on Tuesday (June 15), the bureau said the contraband was destroyed inside the facility of Terra Cycliq Corporation in Barangay Mantibugao, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, on June 14.
The cigarettes consigned to Sixty Nine Enterprises arrived in three containers on January 11 at the Mindanao Container Terminal in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
The shipment that contained 135,700 reams of assorted cigarettes was declared as kitchenware.
The cigarettes were destroyed through crushing with the use of a road roller and backhoe.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Manolo Fortich aided in the destruction by dispersing water into the cigarettes.
BOC Deputy Collector for Operations-Mindanao Container Terminal lawyer Noe Espenilla and BOC-CDO Deputy Collector for Operations Elizabeth delas Llagas led the destruction of the contraband, which was also witnessed by BFP officers. (PNA) – jlo
