Economic sabotage charges filed over smuggled cigarettes in Cebu

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed agricultural economic sabotage charges against 13 individuals, including members of the prominent Gothong family in Cebu, over an estimated P13-billion worth of smuggled cigarettes that were seized earlier this year.

NBI director Melvin Matibag led the filing of the criminal complaint before the Department of Justice on November 9, which involves violations against Republic Act No. 12022, the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, that was passed in September 2024.

Matibag, in an interview before the filing streamed by the media, named several members of the Gothong family, which owns the wharf where 59 containers of illegal cigarettes were discovered in June and July. Initial reports put the estimated value of the contraband at only P3 billion, but Matibag said this has gone up to P13 billion based on the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s assessment.

READ: NBI, BOC vow intensified anti-smuggling crackdown after P3B cigarette seizures

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