THE Western Mindanao Naval Command (WMNC) of the Philippine Navy has seized around P39.8 million worth of contraband in a series of intensified maritime security operations within its area of operations, a top WMNC official said Monday, December 15, 2025.
"These were carried out in three separate maritime interdiction operations conducted in Basilan and Zamboanga City waters," said Rear Admiral Constancio Arturo Reyes Jr., commander of the WMNC.
The biggest anti-smuggling haul happened on Sunday, December 14, when WMNC personnel apprehended a fishing vessel at a position approximately 10.5 nautical miles southeast of Tolonpisa Island, Basilan.
Reyes said that a Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) operation resulted in the arrest of five crewmen and discovery of 519 master cases and 12 reams of assorted undocumented foreign-brand cigarettes worth P29.9 million.
Two days earlier (December 12), the navy operatives have intercepted a motorboat loaded with 137 master cases of assorted brand of cigarettes worth P2.9 in the vicinity of Recodo village, Zamboanga City.
Reyes said the motorboat was traveling at high speed and without navigational lights at the time of apprehension.
On December 9, personnel of the WMNC apprehended a motorboat at a position approximately 3.7 nautical miles northeast of Kaulauanauan Island, Basilan province.
Upon inspection, the motorboat was found carrying undocumented tobacco products consisting of 120 master cases of assorted cigarettes worth P7 million.
Reyes said that all confiscated smuggled cigarettes, motorboats and crew were turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation-Western Mindanao Regional Office-9 for proper disposition.
Reyes said the operational successes reaffirmed the command's commitment to countering maritime smuggling, strengthening coastal security, and safeguarding the country's maritime borders in support of national security objectives and the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept. (SunStar Zamboanga)