ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A truck loaded with smuggled cigarettes worth P9.1 million was intercepted at a checkpoint east of this city at midnight yesterday.
Joint operatives of the police and Bureau of Customs (BOC) put up a checkpoint after receiving reports that a truck loaded with smuggled cigarettes had been spotted.
Truck driver Khalid Dahim, 39, and his helpers Abdurahman Abdulla, 27, and Alnasir Taha, 40, were arrested after 146 master cases of assorted brands of smuggled cigarettes were found in the vehicle.
Authorities said a manhunt for the owner of the smuggled cigarettes is underway.
The confiscated cigarettes, truck and arrested suspects were turned over to the BOC for disposition and filing of charges in court.