BARMM cops seize P5.4M worth of smuggled cigarettes

COTABATO CITY — Policemen intercepted a convoy of three vehicles loaded with P5.4 million worth of imported cigarettes in an anti-smuggling operation in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, before dawn on Monday, April 20.

Maguindanao del Norte is one of the five provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and is located near Cotabato City, the region’s capital.

Local executives in Parang and the spokesperson of the Police Regional Office–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, Capt. Steffie Salanguit, separately told reporters at noon on Monday that 12 individuals escorting the contraband are now in custody. The shipment was reportedly intended for retailers in Cotabato City and the adjoining provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, and Cotabato.

The 12 suspects, namely Jonada Alibaser Boga, Norwaffy Maruhom Mangayao, Mohaimen Abdulnasser Camara, Ali Grande Abubacar, Alinor Ontongan Esmail, Mike Sike Mangontra, Alzayn Garangan Demao, Norhana Mangontra Abdulrahman, Hamza Macasalong Esmail, Alkhair Musa Bilao, Alnahar Mangontra Raraco and Raisa Martinez Mangontra, are now undergoing custodial interrogation.

The vehicles carrying the P5.4 million worth of smuggled cigarettes, a red Isuzu Elf truck, a silver minivan, and a black Toyota Fortuner, were impounded by policemen. All 12 suspects are from different towns in Lanao del Sur, according to local executives.

Personnel of the PRO-BAR Regional Mobile Force Battalion 14-A and anti-smuggling operatives from the Parang Municipal Police Station blocked the convoy’s route in the Duran area of Parang, one of the 12 towns in Maguindanao del Norte, and apprehended the suspects in an operation based on tips from legitimate cigarette dealers in Cotabato City.

The area where the convoy was intercepted is not far from Camp SK Pendatun, where the PRO-BAR regional headquarters is located.

Lawyer-entrepreneur Ronald Hallid Torres, chairman of the Bangsamoro Business Council, which has members in all five provinces and three cities in BARMM, told reporters on Monday that they are grateful to the informants who helped prevent the delivery of the smuggled cigarettes to illegal dealers in Cotabato City and nearby provinces.

Salanguit and Police Brig. Gen. Jaysen De Guzman, director of PRO-BAR, separately told reporters that the 6,500 reams of Indonesian-made cigarettes confiscated in the operation, valued at P5.4 million, will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for disposition.