Police in Maguindanao del Norte arrested an Army sergeant for transporting suspected smuggled cigarettes during checkpoint operations in Parang town on Sunday, police said on Monday.
Lt. Colonel Jopy Ventura, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR), identified the soldier as Technical Sgt. Vergelio Marapao Jr, 46, a resident of Zamboanga City and a member of the First Army Scout Ranger Battalion in Carmen, Cotabato province.
Ventura said Marapao was driving a Toyota Vios and was flagged down about 7 p.m. on Sunday at a checkpoint manned by personnel from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion in Barangay Macasandag, Parang, Maguindanao del Norte.
He said the mobile force police found 10 small boxes containing 248 reams of smuggled San Marino cigarettes with an estimated value of P194,680.
Marapao is facing charges for violation of the Anti-Smuggling Act Law, even as his vehicle and the smuggled cigarettes were turned over to the Bureau of Customs.
In Midsayap, Cotabato, a trader was arrested on Monday for transporting smuggled cigarettes at a police checkpoint in Barangay Central Glad.
Police said P36,000 worth of contraband was seized from the suspect, identified as ‘alias Al.’ The investigation is still in progress.
In Makilala, Cotabato, agents of the Highway Patrol Group, while conducting a law enforcement operation, chanced upon a pick-up vehicle loaded with smuggled cigarettes in Barangay San Vicente, also on Monday.
The suspect, Jerric Albarico of Barangay Kawayanon, Makilala, was transporting in his Nissan Navara some P427,000 worth of smuggled cigarettes.
HPG personnel first discovered that Albarico had an expired car registration and, upon inspection, found piles of smuggled cigarettes