SMUGGLED CIGARETTES. Police officers nabbed a suspect and seized more than PHP3 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in an anti-smuggling operation Tuesday (Jan. 10, 2023) in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur. The confiscation was the first this year in the Zamboanga Peninsula. (Photo courtesy of Area Police Command-Western Mindanao)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Authorities have arrested a suspect and seized more than PHP3 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in Zamboanga del Sur province, a top police official said Wednesday.
Col. Richard Verceles, operations chief of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao, said Aldwin Valendez was nabbed Tuesday morning in Barangay Upper Campo Islam, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur.
Verceles said the 42-year-old suspect was arrested following a tip-off indicating that a shipment of smuggled cigarettes is set to arrive in the village.
“Valendez was caught in the act of unloading cartons of illegal cigarettes from a wing van truck,” he said in a statement.
Verceles said the confiscated contraband consisted of 152 master cases of assorted brands of cigarettes worth PHP3,025,000.
The suspect, vehicle and smuggled cigarettes were placed under the custody of the Labangan municipal police station for proper disposition.
The shipment, which was believed to have come from Bukidnon, was the first to be confiscated by authorities this year in the Zamboanga Peninsula. (PNA)
