P103.3-M worth cigarettes seized in Region 9 since January

COTABATO CITY — Police units have seized P103.3 million worth of imported cigarettes in anti-smuggling operations conducted since January across three provinces and five cities in Region 9, officials announced on Wednesday, May 7.

Brig. Gen. Roel Rodolfo, director of the Police Regional Office-9, and local executives in areas under his jurisdiction were quoted in radio reports in Cotabato City on Wednesday morning as saying that the P103.3 million worth of contraband had been turned over to the Bureau of Customs for proper disposition.  

The imported cigarettes, made in Indonesia, were confiscated by operatives of different PRO-9 units in separate operations in the past 12 weeks in the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and in the cities of Zamboanga, Dapitan, Dipolog, Pagadian and Isabela.

Rodolfo was quoted in radio reports as saying that he and his subordinate officers assigned to the three provinces and five cities under PRO-9 are thankful to local government officials and legitimate merchants for helping prevent the circulation of Indonesian-made cigarettes in Region 9.

The imported cigarettes confiscated in anti-smuggling operations in the past four months were brought into Region 9 by seafaring smugglers from Sulu and Tawi-Tawi using small boats, many of which are now impounded at seaside police detachments and stations of the Philippine Coast Guard.

Rodolfo said credit for the seizure of the P103.3 million worth of imported cigarettes by their personnel in different areas in Region 9 in recent weeks partly goes to tipsters who had provided information about smuggling activities in their respective barangays, enabling them to promptly embark on anti-smuggling operations that yielded positive results.