Filipinos Warned Against Disposed Cigs
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The Philippines Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Port of Zamboanga has warned the public against buying cigarettes that have disposed of by the agency, reports the Philippine News Agency.
The confiscated smuggled cigarettes are sprayed with pesticides, according to Mike Lanza, the customs intelligence and investigation service chief of BOC-Zamboanga.
“Hundreds of people were waiting to salvage packs of cigarettes,” Lanza said, referring to a large-scale destruction of illegal cigarettes completed on April 28, which took place at a sanitary landfill in Barangay Salaan in Zamboanga City. “The drivers of the dump trucks had to stop to avoid accidents.”
According to the BOC, individuals will pay scavengers for each pack of cigarettes they can recover. “They sell the cigarettes to community sundry stores at cheaper prices,” said Arthur Sevilla, BOC-Port of Zamboanga acting district collector.
The confiscated cigarettes are drenched in water and repeatedly crushed by heavy equipment, but scavengers search for packs that may have managed to stay dry.