Lanao del sur: Police authorities in Lanao del Sur arrested four high-value targets, seized PHP2.6 million worth of shabu, and nabbed a woman for transporting smuggled cigarettes on board a bus, an official said Tuesday.

According to Philippines News Agency, Col. Caezar Cabuhat, Lanao del Sur police provincial director, reported the arrest of four drug suspects during a buy-bust operation in Barangay Poblacion of Saguiaran town on Monday. "Police seized from them 388 grams of shabu with an estimated street value of PHP2,638,400," Cabuhat stated. The suspects are residents of Lumbayanague, Lanao del Sur; Pantar, Lanao del Norte; and Baloi, Lanao del Norte. Cabuhat noted that one of the suspects has been listed in the illegal drug personality list since 2021.

In addition to the shabu, authorities recovered a vehicle used in their illegal activities, the buy-bust money, shabu paraphernalia, and mobile phones from the suspects.

On the same day, a woman was arrested for transporting smuggled cigarettes on a passenger bus at an anti-crime checkpoint operation in Barangay Daguan of Kapatagan municipality. During a routine inspection of a bus traveling from Marawi to Cotabato City, Kapatagan municipal police personnel discovered suspicious boxes concealed in the bus's cargo compartment. The woman admitted ownership of the contraband, valued at PHP126,640, which she intended to bring to Cotabato City.

Charges of violations of R.A. 10643 (Graphic Health Warning on Tobacco Products) and R.A. 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act) were filed against the suspect. The confiscated cigarettes were handed over to the Bureau of Customs for proper disposition.