Customs looking at methods to dispose of smuggled cigarettes
Mafnas
The Division of Customs is looking at other ways of disposing smuggled cigarettes after its earlier plan to incinerate them went up in smoke.
Customs director Jose C. Mafnas said his office has all but abandoned its plan to have the contraband items incinerated after the Commonwealth Ports Authority quoted them a price of $2-plus per pound.
Using their calculations, Mafnas said it would cost them $25,000 to have the 12,000 cartons of smuggled cigarettes incinerated by CPA. The 12,000 cartons of cigarettes represent the amount of contraband cigarettes they have in their stock room waiting to be disposed.
He said options they’re looking at now is doing the disposal manually again or just loading them all in a dump truck and sending them to the landfill in Marpi.
“The last time we did it manually we opened every carton, took out all the cigarettes, and soaked them all in water. That was just 2,000 cartons and it took us five days to complete. A total of five people worked on that but certain days only two because three had to work on the container,” said Mafnas.
“We need to figure out how we can do it at low cost. Before we go that route (Marpi landfill) we have to check with the [Department of Public Works] secretary for final approval,” he added.
Last Nov. 15, Customs seized more than 1,000 cartons of cigarettes loaded inside a 20-foot container from the Philippines after the importer failed to declare the items. The container also included over 200 cases of liquor that were mislabeled and were also confiscated by Customs agents.
DUH! Associate the cost of disposal with the penalty.
How about public auction with the minimum starts at tariff tax owed on if one was declared. The proceeds would go into the general funds..
Sell it back to the Chinese who are leaving the island instead of burning them! Make more money (in addition to the fine collected) out of them.
The cost of disposal is peanuts to the amount the contraband would have generated,had it gone through customs.Thanks to you and your hard working crew Joe. Can the company that brings in these contraband be the ones to shoulder the cost as part of their fine? Another way to reduced the cost of disposal is to do it as soon as possible , so you don’t end up with not one but more pile of cigarettes that the storage can handle.
Yes, the company that import/smuggle should shoulder all expense “CASH” upfront for disposal and pay the “FINE” for smuggling. That’s a double win for 2 Gov’t agencies CPA & CUSTOMS. Great job Mr. Mafnas and your team!
I hear that they burn real well, especially if suction is applied to the filter end of the contraband. Maybe do an RFP for incineration services and you can pay your brother-in-law to smoke them.
Sell them, get all the money as profit for somebody that needs the help. 12,000 times $40.00 or whatever is a LOT of money. Taxes get paid in the process. Its a Win Win situation, its money for nothing.
In many areas, including the Phil. the amount of smuggled product that does not get stolen and sold outside by the customs agents and other Govt. agencies, The cigarettes packs have a new “proper label pasted to them and then sold off at a regular price as if they had of been brought in legally with the taxes paid.
The total income is then put into the customs account. Same with the booze.
how about not worrying about it.
Dump them in a woodchipper. You’ll probably just need 1 guy and 1 day. If you feel the need to soak them after, grab a garden hose and hose them down.