P500K worth of smuggled rice seized in Tawi-Tawi
CAMP SK PENDATUN, Maguindanao Norte - Joint personnel of Bongao Municipal Police Station, along with Tawi-Tawi PPO's Provincial Operations Unit and 1st Provincial Mobile First Company, 5th Regional Mobile Force Company RMFB14-B, and 1st Special Operations Unit-Maritime Group confiscated 400 sacks of alleged smuggled rice worth P508,000 on June 11, 2024 in Barangay Pagasinan, Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.
Accordingly, a concerned citizen reported to Bongao MPS the presence of 400 sacks of alleged smuggled rice piled near the bay area of Barangay Pagasinan.
After posing a series of inquiries to a few locals regarding the legality of the rice sacks and their owner, no one claimed the items. Thus, the troops confiscated the smuggled items.
Moreover, the smuggled sacks of rice were brought to Bongao MPS for documentation and then turned over to the Bureau of Customs for proper custody and disposition.
Brig. Gen. Prexy Tanggawohn, regional director of the Police Regional Office in the Bangsamoro Region, lauded the combined units' efforts to respond promptly to residents' concerns, particularly the recovery and seizure of smuggled items that pose unfair competition to local manufacturers in the Philippines.