ZAMBOANGA CITY – The smuggling of cigarettes continues and so is the campaign against contraband and this time, local police seized some P7 million worth of Fort menthol cigarettes bound for General Santos City.
Maj. Shellamie Chang, the regional police
spokeswoman, said members of the 2nd Zamboanga City Mobile Force
Company and the Bureau of Customs were patrolling off Manalipa Island when they
intercepted on Tuesday evening a motorized boat loaded with 200 boxes of cigarettes.
She said the boat was manned by
five crew - Alzhimeir Dasad, 39; Arjhemer Jamad, 39; Nelson Dammang, 28; Abdul Aras,
43; and James Jaitulla, 31, all from Jolo town in Sulu province.
“The Jungkong was allegedly from Jolo, Sulu bound for General Santos City. The men failed to present any legal documents for the cigarettes,” Chang said.
Last week, authorities also intercepted several smuggling boats off Manalipa Island, a transit point in Zamboanga.
Tens of millions of pesos worth of smuggled cigarettes had been seized in Zamboanga in recent years, yet smugglers continue their nefarious activities.
But despite the numbers of arrests of the
smugglers’ workers and boatmen, authorities have not identified or charged any
persons or group behind all these illegal activities. (Mindanao Examiner)
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