P3M worth of smuggled cigarettes seized in South Cotabato
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
KORONADAL CITY — Police arrested two men at a checkpoint in Tantangan town of South Cotabato for attempting to sneak in some P3 million worth of imported cigarettes believed to be smuggled from Indonesia or Malaysia.
Major Randy Apostol, Tantangan police chief, said Nohamen Makangkong, 28, driver and Ameri Ginda, 18, his helper, were aboard an Isuzu wing van cargo truck, which Makangkong was driving, when they were stopped at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at a checkpoint in the town’s Barangay Cuyapat.
They were arrested after some 14,950 reams of Canon cigarettes were discovered inside the truck and failed to show the required documents.
Both driver and helper are residents of Barangay Piñol, Maitum, Sarangani.
Apostol said they both admitted that the contraband came from Palimbang, a coastal town in Sultan Kudarat, and were intended to be brought to South Cotabato and Cotabato province and even up to Cagayan de Oro City.
Police are preparing charges for violation of Customs Modernization and Tariff Act against the suspects. The owner of the contraband remained at large.
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