P886K worth imported cigarettes seized in Sulu
COTABATO CITY - The police foiled Thursday an attempt by smugglers to deliver P886,000 worth of imported cigarettes to traders in Indanan, Sulu.
Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Friday the contraband, consisting of 78 large boxes of cigarettes with Indonesian brands, is now in the custody of the Indanan Municipal Police Station.
He said the confiscated cigarettes shall be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for its disposition.
The 78 boxes containing cigarettes with Royal, RR and Gift brands, manufactured in Indonesia, were found neatly piled at one spot in Sitio Subah Pamawlan in Barangay Buansa by members of the Indanan municipal police.
The illegal merchandise was for delivery to retailers in the town proper of Indanan by four men whom barangay officials said immediately scampered away when then sensed that a police team, out to verify their reported presence in the area, was closing in.
Guyguyon said the chief of the Indanan municipal police, Major Edwin Sapa, had promptly thwarted the smuggling attempt with the help of tipsters residing in Barangay Buansa. (John Unson)