DIGOS CITY – Authorities arrested five persons after they were discovered using a food pass for two truckloads of cigarettes at a checkpoint bordering Davao del Sur and North Cotabato provinces.
Maj. Peter Glenn Ipong, Bansalan town police chief, said Monday the arrest came after the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) provincial team coordinated with the local police about the transport of contraband from Davao City to North Cotabato.
The information, Ipong said, prompted them to alert the police and military personnel manning the checkpoint in Barangay Kinuskusan, Bansalan.
Ipong said the two trucks were flagged down around 7 p.m. after authorities spotted the occupants of two trucks for not wearing their seatbelts.
A routine check found out that instead of the food products such as oil, rice, and milk as declared in their food pass, authorities discovered that the vehicles were loaded with boxes of cigarettes.
Authorities arrested fHaime Akmad Kusain, 27; Musaidin Ali, 53; Badrudin Uyag Guket, 31; Mama Ayob Uka, 35; and Kamarudin Kanday Pendaliday, 25. They are all residents of Maguindanao province.
Authorities also seized 204 boxes of cigarette products from the trucks.
The drivers and their crew were immediately detained for the filing of appropriate charges. (PNA)
