MANILA, Philippines — A number of Bureau of Customs (BoC) officers at the Port of Batangas are in hot water in connection with the recent seizure of P1.2 billion worth of smuggled cigarettes on New Year's Eve.
A highly-reliable source disclosed to The Manila Times on Thursday the identity of one of the primary suspects who, he said, could be the key in identifying upper level customs officials who may have given the go signal to clear the illegal cigarette shipments in Sitio 5, Barangay Balete, Batangas City,
The source corroborated the PNP-Highway Patrol Group report that the Customs employee's husband, who the source also identified, was the lessee of the container yard where the 14 trailer trucks containing the smuggled cigarettes were found.
"It turned out that the husband has a trucking business which operate at the BoC," he added.
"Pero ang mas malalim na story diyan, sino ang mataas na opisyal ang nag allow ng smuggling? Di kasi nag reflect sa systems na may pumasok (But the deeper story is, who was the high-ranking official who allowed smuggling? It didn't reflect the entry of said goods in the systems)," the source said.
He added: "Walang mangangahas na mag padala ng ganyang volume at value na walang paalam (No one would dare to send such a volume and value without permission).".
Assistant Commissioner Philip Vincent Maronilla said that cigarette smuggling was done either through misdeclaration or by outright smuggling which is done in high seas and private ports.
Maronilla said that if the goods were misdeclared they could be easily checked because they have paper trails but it is not the same with outright smuggling which doesn't undergo the normal customs procedure for imported goods.
"We are strict on cigarette smuggling, as ordered by the President himself. Our doubt is that it is being brought into our shorelines and private ports using small vessels that can carry up to 5 containers," Maronilla said.
Customs Commissioner Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno has ordered an investigation into the reported escalation of cigarette smuggling, among other illegal activities, allegedly carried out with the involvement of some officials of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), which led to the relief of Intelligence Officer III Paul Oliver N. Pacunayen, chief, CIIS Field Station, PoM.
Pacunayen was among those mentioned in a letter sent to the President. by concerned officials, employees and stakeholders of the BoC alleging the resurgence of massive smuggling activities in customs ports across the country that resulted in significant shortfalls in revenue collections.
Also mentioned in the letter was CIIS Director Thomas Narcise, and a notorious customs broker who was identified in a 2022 Senate report as a major agricultural smuggler.operating at the Port of Subic, Manila International Container Port, Port of Manila, Port of Batangas, and Port of Cebu.
