P2.6-M smuggled cigarettes seized in Maguindanao del Norte town
INQUIRER FILES
COTABATO CITY — Police in Maguindanao del Norte announced the arrest on Tuesday of two men in possession of some P2.6 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in Barangay Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat town.
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Roy Subsuban, police chief of Datu Odin Sinsuat, said the arrest came two days after they seized P14.8 million worth of imported cigarettes in Parang town of the province.
Subsuban said they immediately put up a chokepoint and launched an anti-smuggling operation at 4:15 a.m. on Tuesday after receiving a tip from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) about a wing van cargo truck loaded with contraband passing by the town’s Barangay Awang.
When intercepted, the driver and his helper could not produce any documents required for the shipment, Subsuban said. Police found 100 boxes of imported cigarettes estimated to cost P2.6 million for delivery to Davao City.
The arrested suspects and cargo truck are now in the custody of the NBI in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
On June 30, police intercepted two cargo trucks loaded with 515 boxes of imported cigarettes worth about P14.8 million in Parang.
Three persons, two drivers, and a helper admitted that the contraband was for delivery to a businessman in Libungan, Cotabato province. Edwin O. Fernandez INQ
