Navy seizes P44-M worth of imported cigarettes in Region 11 operation

COTABATO CITY—A Navy team intercepted P44 million worth of imported cigarettes from Jolo, Sulu, in a seaborne operation over the weekend. The shipment was intended for delivery by boatmen to contacts in seaside towns in Davao de Oro province.

Radio reports on Monday, January 19, stated that personnel from a unit under the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM), aboard a patrol boat, intercepted the M/B Qaisar, then carrying the contraband, about three nautical miles off Pantukan town in Davao de Oro.

The NFEM reported that the 13 detained crewmen of the M/B Qaisar confirmed the contraband they were to unload in beachfront areas of Davao de Oro province came from Jolo town in Sulu province (Region 9), a known transshipment point for cigarettes smuggled from Indonesia by seafaring traffickers.

The 1,118 large boxes containing cigarettes of various Indonesian brands, seized by Navy personnel, were immediately transported to the seaside headquarters of the NFEM in Panacan, Davao City.

Officials of the NFEM stated that the M/B Qaisar had also been impounded.

The captain and all crew members of the M/B Qaisar have reportedly assured authorities that they will identify the smugglers who contracted them to deliver to their contacts in Davao de Oro the P44 million worth of imported cigarettes confiscated by Navy personnel under the NFEM.