ZAMBOANGA CITY – Acting on tipoff, policemen intercepted a shipment of some PHP300,000 worth of smuggled cigarettes in an anti-smuggling operation along the Zamboanga Sibugay provincial highway, an official said Thursday.
Capt. Edwin Duco, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) spokesperson, said the shipment was intercepted around 5 a.m. Thursday in Purok Duncaan, Barangay Poblacion, Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay, following a tipoff received by the local police.
Duco said the driver of the van managed to escape towards the bush upon sensing the arrival of the responding policemen.
The van and the contraband were placed under the custody of the Tungawan Municipal Police Station while they investigate the identity of the owner of the smuggled cigarettes, Duco said.
A day before the confiscation of the contraband, police also seized some PHP1.7 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in Buluan, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.
The vehicle and its cargo were taken to the Ipil Municipal Police Station for proper disposition and turnover to the Bureau of Customs. (PNA)
