P9.4-M worth imported cigarettes seized in Lanao del Sur

COTABATO CITY— Policemen and an Army team seized P9.4 million worth of imported cigarettes in a joint anti-smuggling operation in Barangay Piksan, Calanogas, Lanao del Sur, on Wednesday, January 29.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Friday, January 31, that the contraband is now in their custody and will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for disposition.

A truck driver and his helper were to deliver the 570 boxes of cigarettes, produced in Indonesia, to buyers in different towns in Lanao del Sur.

Macapaz said the truck carrying the imported cigarettes was intercepted by personnel of the Calanogas Municipal Police Station and personnel of the Army’s 6th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Piksan, while en route to nearby towns along the Secretary Narciso Ramos Highway connecting the cities of Marawi and Cotabato.

He said the joint police-army operation that led to the seizure of the P9.4 million worth of cigarettes from Indonesia was carried out with the help of Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr., chairman of the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office. 

The operation was premised on reports to PRO-BAR by Maranaos in Lanao del Sur about the increasing influx of smuggled cigarettes into the province, brought in by delivery trucks hired by suppliers from seaside towns in the Zamboanga peninsula in Region 9.