P2.8 million worth of imported cigarettes seized in Zamboanga del Norte

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Policemen foiled on Friday, September 25, an attempt by seafaring smugglers to deliver P2.8 million worth of cigarettes from Indonesia to retailers in a beachfront area in Barangay Timan in Liloy town in Zamboanga del Norte in Region 9.

Brig. Gen. Elmer Ragay, director of the Police Regional Office 9, told reporters on Sunday that the anti-smuggling operation that led to the confiscation of 45 large boxes containing imported cigarettes, costing P2.8 million, was carried out by combined personnel of the Liloy Municipal Police Station and operatives from different units of the Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Police Office.

The operation was premised on tips by local executives in the province and legitimate dealers of Philippine-made cigarettes about the supposed delivery of the contraband to traders in Liloy.

Ragay said they are to turn over the confiscated imported cigarettes to the Bureau of Customs for its disposition.

The small wooden seacraft used in the transport of the illegal merchandise from Indonesia, via the territorial seas in Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces, was also impounded by the police teams involved in the anti-smuggling operation, now berthed at a seaside area in Liloy, guarded by barangay officials and volunteer community watchmen.