Police and Bureau of Customs (BOC) operatives arrested two persons and seized some PHP5.2 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in Zamboanga Sibugay province, a top police official said Monday.
Col. Richard Verceles, operations chief of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao (APC-WM), said suspects Hamid Pallong and Radzmir Ainami were arrested around 5:20 p.m. Saturday in Barangay Caparan, Ipil town.
Pallong and Ainami were caught separately driving a van and a sports utility vehicle loaded with 402 master cases of assorted smuggled cigarettes.
Verceles said the operation was launched after receiving a report that a shipment of smuggled cigarettes will arrive in Ipil believed to be coming from Zamboanga City.
He said the two drivers were detained pending the filing of formal charges against them, while the seized cargo was placed under the temporary custody of the Ipil police station.
Verceles noted the APC-WM has so far seized some PHP80 million worth of smuggled cigarettes from November 2021 up to this month.
“We intensified our anti-smuggling campaign starting November last year,” he said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
