7 ‘cigarette smugglers’ nabbed in Palawan

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna , Philippines — Seven people were arrested in an anti-smuggling operation that resulted in the seizure of illegal cigarettes and a motorized banca with an estimated combined value of P8.75 million in Sofronio Española, Palawan on Tuesday.

Police withheld the identities of the suspects, who were caught in the waters off King Paradise Island in Barangay Labog transporting boxes of cigarettes without the mandatory graphic health warnings.

Brig. Gen. Christopher dela Cruz, Mimaropa police director, said the suspects were in a motorized banca carrying 177 master cases of cigarettes bearing the brands Maxxis, Era and Astro.

Aside from the contraband, police seized the suspects’ motorized banca estimated to be worth P500,000.

The suspects and the contraband were turned over to the Balabac Seaborne Coastal Base in Brooke’s Point for proper disposition, Dela Cruz said.