COTABATO CITY — Policemen on Wednesday night intercepted in the territorial waters of Zamboanga City a boat loaded with P19.8 million worth of imported cigarettes bound for a seaside town in Lanao del Norte.
The contraband was immediately seized by personnel of units under the Police Regional Office-9 from the seven boatmen who were to deliver it to contacts in coastal barangays in Sultan Naga Dimaporo town in Lanao del Norte province in Region 10.
Officials of PRO-9 were quoted in reports by radio stations here on Thursday morning as saying that the boat carrying 346 large boxes containing cigarettes with Indonesian brands was intercepted by policemen while sailing near Sinunuc Island, which is inside the core territory of Zamboanga City.
The PRO-9, in a statement on Thursday, lauded the policemen involved in the anti-smuggling operation that led to the confiscation of the P19.8 million worth smuggled cigarettes and the arrest of the seven boatmen who were supposed to deliver the merchandise to contacts in Sultan Naga Dimaporo.