The police in Maguindanao del Norte and Sultan Kudarat impounded a total of P11.4 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in separate law enforcement operations on Thursday.
The first operation was in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, where the police, led by Lt. Colonel Esmael Madin, flagged down a closed-van cargo truck at about 4 a.m.
Responding to a tip that a cargo truck from Lebak, Sultan Kudarat was to pass through Barangay Dalican, Datu Odin Sinsuat town, Madin alerted his men manning several checkpoints in the town’s capital.
A cargo truck was intercepted and upon inspection, police found 266 cases of imported cigarettes from Malaysia.
‘It was estimated to cost about P9.5 million,’ Madin told reporters, adding that the contraband was supposed to be delivered to an unidentified consignee in Tacurong City.
The suspects are now detained at the Datu Odin police detention facility while appropriate charges are being prepared against them.
A few hours earlier, members of the 2nd Sultan Kudarat Mobile Force Company and Lebak municipal police station confiscated about P1.9 million worth of smuggled cigarettes at a checkpoint in Barangay Christianuevo, Lebak, at about 11:30 a.m.
Two men, the driver and the helper, were arrested and are now detained at the Lebak police detention facility.
Brig. Gen Arnold Ardiente, regional director for Police Regional Office 12, said smuggling will never prosper in the Soccsksargen region because the public has been helping the police foil all illegal activities in the region