Two 40-foot container vans from China, which carried misdeclared cigarettes and fireworks said to be worth a total of P8.98 million were busted by the Bureau of Customs-Port of Manila (POM), the agency reported on Monday, March 5.

The BoC said one container van, consigned to Paragon Platinum International Trading Corporation, was declared as brackets when the shipment arrived on Febr. 21. Customs authorities discovered boxes of cigarettes instead.

The agency disclosed the cigarettes are worth P8.2 million.

Another shipment consigned to Power Buster Marketing raised an alert at the Customs on February 27 for alleged misdeclaration.

“Upon inspection, we discovered boxes of fireworks instead of the declaration which is footwear,” Customs chief Isidro S. Lapena said in a statement.

The BoC said the fireworks will be turned over to Philippine National Police- Firearms and Explosives Office for proper disposition while the cigarettes are subject to destruction.

The shipments are now waiting for the issuance of warrant of seizure and detention while cases will be filed against the importers for violation of Section 1400 of RA 10863 or Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

The Customs exceeded its revenue target for February by 5.3%. Initial reports from Financial Service showed a total collection of P43.9 billion against the P41.709 billion target; posting a surplus of P2.2 billion.

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