Lanao del sur: Twenty-one individuals, including five minors, were arrested while PHP70 million worth of smuggled cigarettes were seized during anti-smuggling operations in Lanao del Sur over the weekend. The operations, conducted in three sites in Barangay Liyangan in Picong municipality on Sunday, stemmed from confirmed intelligence reports regarding storage areas for smuggled products, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Tuesday.

According to Philippines News Agency, authorities seized 1,800 master cases of Berlin, Cannon, Fort, Greenhill, Bosque, and Modern cigarettes believed to have been smuggled into the country. An M14 rifle was also recovered from one of the warehouses.

"We are now preparing criminal charges against those arrested and all those who are involved in this illegal activity, including the owners of these makeshift storage areas," PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a statement. He added that the five arrested minors were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) following the operation.

The PNP said the Philippine Army provided assistance in conducting the raids and securing the three sites where the smuggled cigarettes were discovered and confiscated. The operation was conducted in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla to pursue those involved in smuggling and other illegal activities.

Nartatez said follow-up operations are underway against at least four individuals whose names surfaced during the initial investigation. "We continue to be relentless in this campaign to send a strong message that this illegal activity has no place in any part of the country," he said.