Customs agents seize cigarettes worth P300,000 with fake stamps

Customs agent Joenel Pogoy opens a box of Mighty cigarettes that allegedly has fake tax stamps. (Photo by JOEY GABIETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

TACLOBAN CITY – Agents of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) confiscated 14 boxes of Mighty cigarettes with fake tax stamps inside a warehouse in this city on Friday afternoon.

Joenel Pogoy, assistant team leader of the three-member BoC team that conducted the raid, said that the seized items were worth P360,000. They would be deposited at BoC regional office in this city.

This was the second seizure of Mighty products here in a month.

Last March 7, the BoC also seized 400 boxes of allegedly fake Mighty cigarettes valued at P6 million at the Port of Tacloban City.

Charry Gaspay, Might Corp. lawyer in Tacloban, questioned the legality of the move of the BoC team.

“BoC has no legal authority to confiscate the items except the BIR,” she said. “The BoC has only authority over import(ed) products and Mighty cigarettes are locally manufactured.”

She also said the BoC team had no authorization from the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Gaspay, together with other personnel of the Mighty, were present when the BoC team conducted their raid at the warehouse and Mighty Corp. office in Barangay 83, San Jose.

Samples taken from the office and the adjacent warehouse showed that the tax stamps were fake using taggant reader, a stamp verifier.

The gadget emits a red light when put next to the fake stamp and green, for the real ones.

Pogoy said a fake stamp had the “presumption” that the products were fake or counterfeit and should be confiscated.

Also present during the raid were members of the city police, barangay officials and barangay tanods.

Pogoy said any legal questions that the company would like to raise should be addressed in court or to Customs Commissioner Nicador Faeldon. /atm