BOC Confiscated Mighty Cigarettes With Alleged Fake Tax Stamps In Visayas
Cartons of Mighty cigarettes with alleged fake tax stamps were seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on some areas in the Visayas.
400 cartons of Mighty cigarettes with fake tax stamps were seized by BOC in Tacloban and two 40-foot container vans of cigarettes with fake stamps were also found in Cebu.
Over P6 million in excise tax was almost deprived the owner of the shipment from the government, according to Edgar Quejada, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) legal officer in Eastern Visayas.
Quejada was using a gadget on inspecting the cigarette pack to determine whether the stamps were real or not. The gadget would produce green light if the stamps were real and red light if it were fake.
On Monday (March 06, 2017), the container van containing the 400 cartons of cigarettes loaded from MV Lady Alina has arrived on Tacloban Port around 9:00 pm, according to Francisco Colmenares, a BOC special agent.
“We received information from our intelligence office division in Cebu, Verne Enciso, that about 400 boxes of cigarettes with fake stamps are loaded on the ship, which came from Manila,” said by Colmenares quoted by Inquirer.
The container van was opened for inspection on Tuesday (March 07, 2017). It was opened in the presence of Customs Commissioner Quejada and Nicanor Faeldon and found out to be fake using taggant reader.
The cartons of cigarettes with fake stamps were supposed to deliver on a warehouse owned by Mighty Corporation, the manufacturer of cigarettes seized in the Visayas. The confiscated cigarettes are now under the custody of BOC, according to Colmenares.
The two, 40-foot container vans in Cebu City were seized Pier 4 after it was unloaded from MV Don Alberto Sr. of Gothong Shipping Lines.
The confiscated cigarette packs with fake tax stamps were distributed to different warehouses nationwide.