PHILIPPINE Marine troops were manning a checkpoint when they seized two boxes of smuggled cigarettes along the highway of Zamboanga City, officials said Thursday, March 5.

Colonel Antonio John Divinagracia, Joint Task Force Zamboanga commander, said the smuggled cigarettes were seized Wednesday, March 4, in Licomo Village aboard a passenger bus plying the Zamboanga-Dipolog route and vice-versa.

Divinagracia said they were informed by conductors Lovelito Pangasian and Rex Vincent Hamoy that the cigarettes were loaded in Culianan Village and were to be delivered to Polandok Village in Salug, Zamboanga del Norte.

“We coordinated with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to confirm the legality of the items. Upon confirmation that the cigarettes were smuggled, our troops immediately confiscated the contraband,” Divinagracia said.

He said the confiscated items were turned over to the BOC for inventory and proper disposition.

“Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), through all of its Joint Task Forces, remains steadfast in the conduct of anti-smuggling operations together with our partners from the PNP (Philippine National Police) and the Bureau of Customs,” said Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, Westmincom chief.

“Rest assured that we will sustain our operations to curb and deter such illegal activity in our area of operation,” Sobejana added. (SunStar Zamboanga)