BOC destroys equipment to make fake cigarettes

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Tuesday reported that it had completed the destruction of multimillion pesos worth of equipment used in manufacturing counterfeit cigarettes and cigarette labels and seals. Michael Angelo Vargas, BOC Port of Manila district collector, said the items, which were crushed and turned into scrap metal, were estimated to be worth P32 million. The seized items were destroyed in a facility in Carmona, Cavite. The Department of Finance (DOF), the BOC’s mother agency, said more than half of contraband seized in 2020 were illegal cigarettes and tobacco worth P5.22 billion. The DOF said that 150 out of the 792 antismuggling operations last year yielded smuggled cigars and tobacco products. —Tina G. Santos