ZAMBOANGA CITY(January 23) — From pre-dawn house raids in Soccsksargen to baggage inspections at the Port of Zamboanga, law enforcement units across Mindanao intercepted ₱10.7 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in a series of coordinated operations this week, police said.
The biggest haul came in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, where police served search warrants at around 3:37 a.m. Thursday in two villages, netting 209 master cases of assorted cigarettes valued at ₱8.9 million.
Police Brigadier General Arnold Ardiente, regional director, said operatives seized 86 master cases worth ₱3.6 million from the home of alias Chong and another 123 master cases valued at ₱5.2 million from alias Yash, a former police officer. Both suspects were absent during the raids and remain at large.
Searches at two other residences in the same town yielded no contraband, Ardiente said. All confiscated items were placed under police custody and will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for proper disposition.
Hours later and hundreds of kilometers away, maritime police at the Zamboanga City Maritime Police Station arrested a suspect after discovering 1,106 reams, or about 22 master cases, of smuggled cigarettes worth ₱1.2 million concealed in passengers’ baggage during a random inspection.
Police Major Benzar Mukkaram, station chief, said the operation was triggered by intelligence reports that a shipment of illicit cigarettes was expected to arrive from nearby provinces. The seized products lacked the required graphic health warnings, a violation of the Graphic Health Warnings on Tobacco Products Act.
Earlier this week, police in Jolo, Sulu, also confiscated ₱573,000 worth of smuggled cigarettes during a checkpoint operation in Barangay Busbus after a driver abandoned a vehicle carrying 10 master cases and fled.
Police said no one has claimed ownership of the vehicle or the cigarettes.
Authorities said the back-to-back seizures highlight continued efforts to curb the illegal cigarette trade, which deprives the government of tax revenues and exposes communities to unregulated tobacco products.
