Authorities Seize PHP8.3M Worth of Smuggled Cigarettes

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY – Authorities seized 149 boxes of assorted illicit and smuggled cigarettes worth PHP8.38 million after spotting an unfamiliar motorized boat at the Old Airport in Barangay Tangub on Wednesday morning.

Police Maj. Kent Jerek Capadosa, acting commander of the 4th Special Operations Unit of the Maritime Police, said three people, including a buyer, were arrested during the operation.

Capadosa said his team responded to a report about a suspicious boat when they intercepted the items along the shoreline.

The cigarettes were reportedly unloaded from a boat carrying several unidentified individuals from Sulu.

“Nagkabulagaan na pagdating ng tropa,” Capadosa said, describing a brief chase that followed after some suspects fled, though three were eventually apprehended.

He added that the arrested individuals were also from Sulu and had been staying in Bacolod for about a year.

The suspects will face charges for violating Republic Act 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, and Republic Act 10643 or the Graphic Health Warnings Law.

They also face a possible tax evasion case from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, as the items did not go through the proper taxation process.

The suspects, aged 29, 38, and 43, are now under the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group–Negros Occidental.

In May, authorities also confiscated PHP2.8 million worth of smuggled cigarettes in E.B. Magalona, PHP12.8 million in Cauayan, and PHP1.23 million in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental.