By Edwin Fernandez
COTABATO CITY – Police teams separately seized PHP9.9 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and Soccsksargen Region since April 17, officials said Monday.
In the BARMM province of Maguindanao del Norte, a dozen people from Lanao del Sur were arrested before dawn Monday at a checkpoint operation in Parang town for possession of smuggled cigarettes valued at PHP5.4 million and a pistol, loaded in three vehicles.
Capt. Steffi Salanguit, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR), said the 12 suspects were on board three vehicles loaded with 6,500 reams of smuggled cigarettes as they passed the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB-14) checkpoint in Barangay Sarmiento, Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, at 1:20 a.m.
Police found the contraband loaded in a silver minivan (KBK 1568), a red Elf truck (MAS 5606) and a black sports utility vehicle (DAF 3607) after they were flagged down.
The suspects were traveling from Lanao del Sur to Cotabato City when they were stopped at a checkpoint for a routine inspection.
“The police unit was conducting an intelligence-driven, anti-criminality checkpoint in Parang when the three vehicles passed by,” Salanguit said over a local radio station.
The enforcers also found a .45-caliber pistol from one of the suspects.
The suspects, the firearm and the three vehicles were brought to Parang Municipal Police Station for documentation and investigation, pending turnover to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel.
Charges for violations of the anti-smuggling law and RA 10591 (Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act) are being prepared against the suspects.
Brig. Gen. Jaysen de Guzman, PRO-BAR regional director, lauded the police unit for the successful law enforcement operations.
Meanwhile, in the Soccsksargen Region, police authorities in the coastal town of Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, continue to make progress in their campaign against cigarette smuggling, with a series of arrests and the confiscation of contraband valued at PHP4.2 million over the weekend.
In a statement on Monday, Brig. Gen. Arnold Ardiente, director of PRO-12 (Soccsksargen), said the latest successful operation was on Sunday in Barangay Christianuevo, Lebak, Sultan Kudarat.
Joint personnel of Lebak Municipal Police Station and 2nd Sultan Kudarat Provincial Mobile Force Company, as the lead unit, and other operating units, flagged down a gray minivan without a license plate traveling towards South Upi municipality in Maguindanao del Sur.
“Upon plain view inspection, the vehicle was found loaded with several boxes and reams of suspected smuggled cigarettes,” Ardiente said.
The driver, identified only as “alias Dan,” 43, of Barangay Kinudalan, Lebak, failed to present any pertinent documents legitimizing his cargoes.
The total estimated market value of the confiscated items, as assessed by the BOC , amounts to PHP410,726.
The suspect and the confiscated items are now under the custody of Lebak MPS for proper documentation and appropriate disposition.
Ardiente also announced that police in Lebak seized about PHP1.4 million worth of suspected imported cigarettes from a warehouse in Barangay Kinudalan after a man was seen hauling boxes of cigarettes to a waiting cargo truck on Saturday.
A day earlier, police in Lebak confiscated PHP2.8 million worth of smuggled cigarettes but missed the suspected smuggler, also in Barangay Kinudalan.
Police were conducting mobile patrol operations in the village at about 10 p.m. when they noticed several boxes of cigarettes stockpiled outside a warehouse owned by a certain “Aning,” of Datu Blah Sinsuat in Maguindanao del Norte.
Two men fled as the police arrived in the village. The warehouse owner was also not around during the operation.
Seized were imported cigarettes with an estimated value of P2.8 million based on the BOC valuation.
The suspects were subsequently arrested for violation of Republic Act 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act) and Republic Act 10643 (Graphic Health Warnings Law). (PNA)
