Marine unit intercepts second shipment of smuggled cigarettes
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Marines and police personnel seized smuggled cigarettes worth an estimated P3 million late Monday in separate operations in Zamboanga City and in Ipil town, Zamboanga Sibugay province, security officials said.
Troops of the 111th Marine Company were conducting a security patrol in the mangrove area of Barangay Mariki, a coastal village in Zamboanga City, when they intercepted a ‘jungkong’ motorized pumpboat with three people on board.
The Marines apprehended the three members of the jungkong's crew and found that the boat was loaded with undocumented master cases of smuggled cigarettes.
The Marines did not specify how many master cases of smuggled cigarettes were seized and that will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs. Sources estimated there were about 50 master cases in the pump boat, with an estimated value of P1.5 million.
A master case has 50 cartons of cigarettes each. Each carton has 10 packets of 20 cigarettes each.
The same marine unit intercepted another jungkong loaded with 50 master cases of smuggled cigarettes along the shoreline of sitio Asinan, Barangay Talon-Talon, a village adjacent to Mariki, on November 18.
The seized smuggled cigarettes, with an estimated value of P1.477 million came from Basilan and was to be delivered for distribution in Zamboanga City.
Police also seized 137 boxes of assorted smuggled cigarette brands with an estimated value of P1.5 million pesos in Ipil town, Zamboanga Sibugay late Monday afternoon.
The police and the intelligence branch of the Zamboanga Sibugay Police Provincial Office tracked down the contraband that was already abandoned at sitio Sarok-Sarok, Barangay Bangkerohan.
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