Cops seize P36.7-M worth smuggled cigarettes in Zamboanga City

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The police foiled on Friday, May 2, an attempt by seafaring smugglers to deliver to contacts in Basilan and in seaside areas in the Zamboanga peninsula P36.7 million worth of cigarettes from Indonesia.

Ranking officials of the Police Regional Office-9 and counterparts in the Bangsamoro regional police told reporters on Saturday, May 3, that the small boat carrying the contraband, the M/L J-Minda, was immediately held by policemen after villagers reported that it had docked at a small wharf in Barangay Campo Islam in Zamboanga City for a brief stopover.

Anti-smuggling teams from different units of PRO-9 found 642 boxes of cigarettes in the boat, according to local executives. 

Radio reports had stated that three boatmen, Eding Alsad Kinsang, 54, Alwijar Hadjali Binang, 33, and the 35-year-old Basar Julaid Dahim, who were detained by policemen, had confirmed that their illegal merchandise, from suppliers in Sulu and in Tawi-Tawi, were consigned to traders in seaside areas in Zamboanga City and in nearby Basilan in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Local executives in Basilan had told reporters that they are thankful to Police Brig. Gen. Roel Rodolfo, PRO-9 director, and BARMM regional police officials for having acted on reports about the supposed delivery of the smuggled cigarettes to coastal areas in the island province, enabling policemen to promptly prevent it.

Rodolfo had reportedly ordered the turnover of the confiscated P36.7 million worth of smuggled cigarettes to the Bureau of Customs for its proper disposition.