Government agents seized some PHP14 million Cebu-bound worth of smuggled cigarettes and arrested two persons during an anti-smuggling operation here, a top police official said Monday.
Col. Alexander Lorenzo, Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) director, said the smuggled cigarettes were intercepted around 1:50 a.m. Sunday in front of the ZCPO Station 4 office along Maria Clara Lorenzo Lobregat (MCLL) Highway in Barangay Culianan.
Lorenzo said the operation was launched after they received information regarding the shipment of the smuggled items, which consisted of 400 master cases concealed in ice cases loaded in a 10-wheeler truck.
Lorenzo said truck driver, Jose Dichoso Goodwill, 45, and his assistant, Ryan Jalis Comidoy, 37, failed to present documents about the cargo.
He said Goodwill disclosed they were bound for Cebu City to deliver the cigarettes.
Goodwill and Comidoy, along with the smuggled cigarettes and the vehicle, were turned over to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for proper disposition.
Source: Philippines News Agency
