AUTHORITIES have seized a shipment of some P7.5 million worth of smuggled cigarettes off Basilan province, the police reported Friday, September 22, 2023.
The shipment was seized in the morning of Thursday, September 21, in the sea off Dasalan village in Hadji Muhtamad, Basilan.
The Hadji Muhtamad Municipal Police Station reported that its personnel were conducting seaborne patrol when they chanced upon a motorboat man by five crewmen sailing towards Sulu coming from Zamboanga City.
The police said that upon inspection, the motorboat was found to be loaded with some 300 master cases of cigarettes worth P7.5 million.
The police said the five crewmen were arrested and the cigarettes seized after they failed to present documents of the cargo they were transporting.
The seized motorboat, crewmen and its cargo were placed under the custody of the police in Hadji Muhtamad and will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs for proper disposition. (SunStar Zamboanga)
