LOCAL police seized Tuesday, April 24, 300 sacks of rice suspected to have been smuggled into Zamboanga City.

Chief Inspector Helen Galvez, Police Regional Office-Zamboanga Peninsula information officer, said officers from Police Station 8 intercepted a “Bongo-type” truck loaded with 200 sacks of rice around 3:45 a.m. Tuesday in Barangay (village) Sinunuc.

The truck was driven by Kinching Ling, 60, a resident of San Roque village.

Another 100 sacks of rice were recovered in a private lot in Sitio Miramar during a follow-up operation.

Each sack contains 25 kilos of rice.

Galvez said a certain Al-neshar Usman, a resident of Sinunuc village, claimed to be the owner of the rice shipment.

She said Usman told the police that he bought the rice for P40,000 in Jolo, Sulu.

Usman, however, failed to show pertinent documents except a photocopy of an official receipt from the Bureau of Customs (BoC) office in Jolo.

The entire shipment was deposited at the Police Station 8 pending turnover to the BoC. (SunStar Philippines)