(UPDATE) CUSTOMS Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio on Sunday said heads will roll as he vowed to get into the bottom of the attempted resale of the P270 million worth of seized smuggled cigarettes from Capas, Tarlac.
Rubio said that he ordered a parallel investigation to pinpoint Customs officials and employees linked to the alleged anomaly.
“Heads will roll if reports are confirmed that some of the agency’s personnel were involved in the [failed attempt] to resell the P270 million worth of seized smuggled cigarettes,” said Rubio.
Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
“I already instructed the Intelligence Group’s Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service to look into this matter and report to me immediately. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has our full cooperation and I promise that anyone found involved in this will be held accountable. Heads will roll,” he added.
The BOC has made significant progress in the fight against cigarette and e-cigarettes smuggling. It earlier seized P5.1 billion of e-cigarettes/vape and P4.1 billion of tobacco and cigarettes for a total of almost P9.3 billion last year.
The NBI is investigating the possible involvement of some Customs personnel attempting to resell the P270-million contraband that was supposed to have been destroyed at the Hazchem North, a waste disposal company located in Capas, Tarlac.
Customs records show that the smuggled cigarettes arrived at the Port of Subic in five intervals between July 2021 and June 2022. They were abandoned and immediately seized and referred for disposal in 2023.
Of the five containers, which were all found to be smuggled, four were originally consigned to Hongcim International Corp. and one was consigned to Proline Logistics Philippines Inc.
The BOC confirmed Hazchem North as the waste disposal company contracted to dispose of the cigarettes. It is the same company whose owner, the NBI said, allegedly ordered his environmental consultant to find a buyer for the goods.
“Our coordination with the NBI has always been one of the reasons our operations have been successful. If the investigation targets someone from our team, there’s all the more reason we should work together with the NBI to get to the bottom of this and hold people accountable,” Rubio said.
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