4 containers with ‘smuggled’ cigarettes found at Zambales pier

IBA, Zambales — Four containers of suspected smuggled cigarettes were found at an illegally constructed pier in Palauig town in Zambales province, which has been under a cease-and-desist order since 2022, authorities confirmed on Wednesday.

According to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Zambales, an unidentified vessel unloaded the containers at BNB Pier in Sitio Luan in Barangay Lipay. 

The pier is located within the 7,558-hectare Masinloc and Oyon Bay Protected Landscape and Seascape (MOBPLS), a protected area spanning portions of Masinloc and Palauig.

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READ: P6.2-M suspected smuggled cigarettes intercepted in Sulu

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The PCG said its Coast Guard Sub-Station Palauig and Coast Guard Intelligence Unit in Zambales verified the report through residents and their counterparts. 

A team from the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) gained access to the premises and confirmed the presence of four sealed containers, a crane and a flatbed truck.

In a phone interview, Donaver Guevarra, chief of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Masinloc, said a boatman associated with their office, who lives in San Salvador Island in Masinloc town, had spotted the vessel. 

The vessel was described as “relatively small” because the waters there were shallow and unsuitable for larger or heavier vessels. It arrived at the facility at around 11:00 p.m. on Monday and left at about 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

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“During the morning patrol, our protection officer spotted the containers and a crane, so they went to check the site. We also went there with the PNP Maritime Group and saw four containers and trailer trucks and coordinated with the Bureau of Customs and the Philippine Coast Guard,” Guevarra said.

According to initial information relayed by the BOC to Guevarra, the cigarettes allegedly came from Taiwan and were intended for local distribution. 

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However, the contents of the sealed containers have to be formally established in the PCG report.

The shipment’s value was also still being determined pending an inventory and assessment by a BOC examiner.

The PCG said the pier’s lessee, a construction company owner from Pampanga, will be summoned on Oct. 28 to explain the containers’ origin, contents, and ownership and present the necessary documents.

The summons does not establish that the lessee owns the shipment or was involved in the alleged smuggling.

READ: P4.6-M suspected shabu, smuggled cigarettes seized in BARMM

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The pier has been under a DENR cease-and-desist order since 2022 for lacking an environmental compliance certificate and other required permits, Guevarra said./coa