ZAMBOANGA CITY – Authorities have arrested eight people and seized some PHP7.8 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in separate anti-smuggling operations the past three days in this southern port city.
Colonel Richard Verceles, operations chief of the Area Police Command, said the latest apprehension was made around 9:20 a.m. Monday that saw the arrest of Nasir Pingay Kasim, 40, in Barangay Kasanyangan.
The personnel of the Zamboanga City Police Office’s (ZCPO) Station 6 were conducting a checkpoint operation when they intercepted a van driven by Kasim loaded with 50 master cases of assorted smuggled cigarettes worth PHP1.7 million.
Verceles said the biggest haul in the anti-smuggling operation transpired Sunday, when five people were arrested and some PHP4.9 million worth of smuggled cigarettes were seized.
Verceles said personnel of the 2nd Zamboanga City Mobile Force “Seaborne” Company and Bureau of Customs (BOC) Intelligence and Investigation Service, as well as the BOC’s Enforcement and Security Service, were on seaborne patrol around 5:30 p.m. when they intercepted a motorboat manned by five-man crew near Manalipa Island of this city.
Upon inspection, the motorboat was found to be loaded with 142 master cases of assorted smuggled cigarettes worth PHP4.9 million that came from Jolo, Sulu, and bound for Pagadian City, the capital of Zamboanga del Sur province.
Verceles said the cargo was immediately confiscated, and the five-man crew was arrested after they failed to present documents of the cigarettes.
The ZCPO said it has tightened its watch around Manalipa Island as the area serves as a transit route for smugglers.
On Saturday, policemen and BOC personnel also intercepted a van loaded with 32 master cases of smuggled cigarettes worth PHP1.1 million and arrested two people in a 2:30 p.m. operation in Barangay Baliwasan.
The arrested suspects, vehicles, and contraband were turned over to the BOC for appropriate action. (PNA)
8 nabbed, P7.8-M smuggled cigarettes seized in Zambo City
By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.
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