Government operatives have arrested three individuals and seized more than PHP2 million worth of smuggled cigarettes off this city, a top police official reported Friday.
Col. Rexmel Reyes, city police director, said the cigarettes were seized around 1:40 p.m. Thursday near Tumalutab, an island barangay east of this city.
He said personnel of the 2nd City Mobile Force “Seaborne” Company, together with operatives from the Bureau of Customs (BOC), were conducting sea patrol when they intercepted a motorboat traveling toward the province of Zamboanga Sibugay.
Upon inspection, the motorboat was found to be loaded with 65 master cases of undocumented assorted cigarettes with an estimated market value of PHP2,275,000.
Reyes identified the crew as Tahang Abubakar, 39; Isran Sakib, 20; and, Alnijar Mauddin, 36, all of Pangdan-Pangdan, Kalingalan Caluang, Sulu.
He said an investigation showed the cigarettes came from Sulu and bound for Pagadian City, the capital of Zamboanga del Sur.
He disclosed that the joint police and BOC team launched the seaborne patrol following receipt of information that a shipment of cigarettes is scheduled to pass near Tumalutab island.
Reyes said the cigarettes, motorboat, and arrested crewmen were turned over to the BOC after inspection of the cargoes by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for the possible presence of illegal drugs.
Source: Philippines News Agency