Cops seize P20-M worth of imported cigarettes in Zamboanga del Sur

COTABATO CITY —  Policemen confiscated around P20 million worth of Indonesian-made cigarettes that a van-type truck was to deliver to buyers in Tigbao town in Zamboanga del Sur on Saturday, November 30.

In separate initial statements on Sunday, December 1, officials from the Tigbao Municipal Police Station and the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Police Office estimated the value of the 350 boxes of smuggled cigarettes intercepted along a highway in the municipality at no less than P20 million.

Radio reports on Sunday morning stated that it was legitimate dealers of cigarettes in Tigbao that informed the local police about the supposed delivery of the smuggled cigarettes to certain buyers in the municipality, enabling local officials and policemen to mount the checkpoint operation that led to the confiscation of the contraband.

The driver of the truck carrying the imported cigarettes and his helper had been detained for questioning by probers in the Tigbao municipal police.

The police and the local government unit of Tigbao are to turn over the illegal merchandise to the Bureau of Customs for its disposition.