ZAMBOANGA CITY – Navy personnel together with Bureau of Customs (BOC) operatives have intercepted two watercrafts and seized some P17.5 million worth of smuggled cigarettes early Monday off this city.
Rear Adm. Toribio Adaci Jr., commander of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM), said the joint team was conducting intelligence-driven maritime interdiction operation when they chanced upon two watercrafts, M/B Nurshida and M/B Dream Boy, in two separate locations sailing to this city.
Adaci said that M/B Nurshida, which is manned by seven-man crew, was spotted around 12:30 a.m. near the shore of Barangay Ayala, while M/B Dream Boy manned by five-man crew, was spotted around 12:45 a.m. on the same day near the shore of Barangay Sinunuc, this city.
Adaci said that the NFWM and BOC personnel conducted Visit Board Search and Seizure Operations (VBSSO) and four that M/B Nurshida and M/B Dream Boy were loaded with 228 and 274 master cases of undocumented assorted cigarettes, respectively. Both watercrafts came from the province of Sulu.
He said the two watercrafts, both of which came from Sulu, were escorted to the Naval Station Romulo Espaldon that houses the NFWM headquarters in this city for a joint inventory.
He said that inventory result showed the assorted smuggled cigarettes seized aboard the two watercrafts were worth P17,570,000. The items and the vessels were turned over to the BOC for proper disposition. The apprehension of the two watercrafts loaded with smuggled cigarettes came as the NFWM in coordination with the BOC strengthen the watch against smuggling activities in this city and in the region. – Nikolai Gonzalo
