P12.4-M worth of imported cigarettes seized in Zamboanga City

COTABATO CITY — The police seized P12.4 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in two anti-smuggling operations in Zamboanga City on Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Bowenn Joey Masauding, director of the Police Regional Office-9, told reporters on Thursday that their separate raids in Barangay Sinunuc and subsequently in Barangay Maasin, were assisted by the office of Zamboanga City Mayor John Dalipe.

Intelligence operatives of PRO-9, personnel of the Zamboanga City Police Office and agents of the Bureau of Customs first confiscated P6.8 million worth of cigarettes with Indonesian brands in a hideout of smugglers in Purok 6 in Barangay Sinunuc.

The operation also resulted in the arrest of two keepers of the contraband who are now both in the custody of the Zamboanga CPS.

Masauding said P5.6 million worth of Indonesian-made cigarettes were also seized in another joint police-BOC operation in Zone 1-A in Barangay Maasin late Wednesday.

The illegal merchandise was found neatly piled in a makeshift storage facility in Barangay Maasin, whose male caretaker was also detained for interrogation.