OPERATIVES of the Philippine National Police-Maritime Group (PNP-MG) have seized two shipments worth about P4.2 million of smuggled cigarettes in separate law enforcement operations in the Zamboanga Peninsula, police said Sunday, January 11, 2026.
The first shipment of smuggled cigarettes was seized around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 8, in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte, while the second was seized around 9:15 p.m. the same day in Baliwasan village, Zamboanga City.
Operatives of the Zamboanga del Norte Maritime Police Station (ZDN Marpsta) launched a checkpoint operation along the nautical highway in San Vicente village, Dapitan City, after receiving an intelligence report about smuggled cigarettes being loaded onto a passenger bus bound for Bacolod City.
The ZDN Marpsta said a total of 391 reams of cigarettes without graphic health warnings and believed to be smuggled, worth P446,131, were seized aboard the passenger bus during the inspection.
The confiscated cigarettes were placed in the custody of the ZDN Marpsta for eventual turnover to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for proper disposition.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Zamboanga City Maritime Police Station (ZC Marpsta) arrested an individual and seized around 66 master cases of smuggled cigarettes worth P3.7 million at about 9:15 p.m. on Thursday, January 8, in Baliwasan village, Zamboanga City.
The ZC Marpsta said the suspect was arrested during monitoring and mobile patrol operations in the area.
The ZC Marpsta withheld the identity of the suspect, who was caught in the act of transporting smuggled cigarettes inside the container area of a shipping firm.
The suspect is in the custody of the ZC Marpsta, while the confiscated cigarettes were brought to the headquarters of the PNP-MG Regional Mobile Unit-9. (SunStar Zamboanga)