ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Naval Task Group-Sulu seized some P10 million worth of smuggled cigarettes off Sulu.
Col. Hernanie Songano, NTGS and 4th Marine Brigade commander, revealed that said shipment was intercepted by the joint team of the Navy Special Operations Unit (NSOU) and Marine Battalion Landing Team-8 (MBLT-8) around 9:50 p.m. Sunday south of Lagasan, Maimbung, Sulu.
The troops apprehended M/V Ana, which was found to be loaded with some 200 master cases of undocumented cigarettes with an estimated value of P10 million, when they conducted maritime interdiction following observation that motorboats are “coming in and out the south of Lagasan, Maimbung.”
Songano said they also took into custody the nine crew members of M/V Ana, which is owned by Logo Tayung Manday of Balabac, Palawan whose wife is a native of Sulu.
He said that a naval attack boat towed M/V Ana, with its crew and smuggled goods to this city for proper disposition.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. William Gonzales, Joint Task Force Sulu commander, commended the successive accomplishments of the Navy units station at the second district of Sulu.
“Now that we have significantly decreased the manpower of terrorist group here in Sulu, we are able to do more in terms of law enforcement support and border control. Just the other week, out Marines were also able to seize illegal drugs and loose firearms on two separation operations–also worth millions of contraband,” Gonzales said. – Nikolai Gonzalo
