ILIGAN CITY – Two hundred boxes of fake cigarettes with an estimated value of PHP4 million were seized at a checkpoint here before dawn Monday (July 15).
Capt. Taha Tambog, chief of Iligan City Police Station 2, said Monday Task Force Kalikasan personnel inspected a cargo truck carrying logs but discovered boxes of cigarettes covered in laminated sacks.
“The Task Force Kalikasan endorsed it to our office and we found out that it has no pertinent documents to prove the legality of the cigarettes,” Tambog said in a phone interview.
Police identified the driver as Mark Eugene Fernandez Dolorican, 24, a resident of Aurora town, Zamboanga del Sur, who was apprehended with an assistant identified as Ronni Concepcion Baquiran, 29.
Initial investigation on the driver and truck helper bared that the vehicle traveled from Zamboanga City and was en route for Davao City when it was intercepted, Tambog said.
Tambog said the two will be facing charges for violation of Republic Act 4712 or the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines. (PNA)