ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines — A motor launch and its cargo of smuggled cigarettes worth around P55 million were seized in Sulu on Monday.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) district office said personnel of the Bureau of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service and Marines intercepted the wooden-hulled vessel in the waters off Siasi town.
The vessel, which was found carrying 2,500 master cases of smuggled cigarettes, was escorted to the Romulo Espaldon naval station in this city.
Last week, the BOC district office seized some P10.1 million worth of smuggled cigarettes at a house in Barangay Campung Island, almost a kilometer away from the naval base.
The BOC has destroyed P210 million worth of smuggled cigarettes seized since June last year.